Psychoanalytic approaches to myth : Freud and the Freudians /
Dan Merkur.
- New York : Routledge, 2005.
- 1 online resource (x, 161 pages).
- Theorists of myth .
- Theorists of myth (Routledge (Firm)) .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 141-156) and index.
BOOK COVER; TITLE; COPYRIGHT; TABLE OF CONTENTS; Chapter 1 Mythology into Metapsychology; Chapter 2 Myth as Unconscious Manifestation; Chapter 3 Myth and the Basic Dream; Chapter 4 Myth as Defense and Adaptation; Chapter 5 Myth as Metaphor; Chapter 6 Therapeutic Insights in Myth; Epilogue Clinical Implications; References; Index.
The book surveys and evaluates the methods that Freud and the various psychoanalytic schools have employed in their studies of myths. In addition to providing a historical survey, the author argues that modern views of myth as something to be deplored because it is inconsistent with history and science depends on a misunderstanding of the nature of myth. Myth is not a product of unconscious irrationality but is instead a sustained use of metaphor. It expresses ideas in concrete imagery of unconscious inspiration, but the ideas can be rational and profound, as is also the case with poetry and s.