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Prefacio................................................................................................ xv
I. Theory
II. Practice
A. Positivity
B. Traumatic-vulnerable Negativity
C. Violent Negativity
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Ce volume n’est pas issu à proprement parler des actes du ive Congrès
International de Mitocritique “Mythe et émotions” qui s’est tenu à l’Univer-
sité Complutense de Madrid (24-28 octobre 2016). Cent cinquante commu-
nications furent présentées lors de cet événement. À la suite d’une évalua-
tion approfondie effectuée par des examinateurs externes, les éditeurs ont
parachevé une sélection finale rigoureuse.
Suite aux trois congrès précédents (célébrés en 2011, 2012 et 2014), ont
été publiés les volumes suivants:
1. Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel (José Manuel
Losada & Marta Guirao éds.), Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2012, xvi-523 p. isbn: 1-4438-3746-6.
2. Mito e interdisciplinariedad. Los mitos antiguos, medievales y mo-
dernos en la literatura y las artes contemporáneas (José Manuel Losada &
Antonella Lipscomb éds.), Bari (Italie), Levante Editori, 2013, 458 p., 80
illustr. ISBN: 978-88-7949-623-0.
3. Myths in Crisis: The Crisis of Myth (José Manuel Losada & Antonella
Lipscomb éds.), Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
2015, xxix-441 p. isbn: 978-1-4438-7814-2.
Underworld through the caverns of Cape Tenarus, searching for his beloved
Eurydice. Virgil, and with him Ovid (Metamorphoses, x, 10: “serpentis
dente recepto”; 1994, p. 171), relates an incident that appears to contra-
dict rational logic: it seems unreasonable to go beyond death to search for
someone. Yet emotional logic readily accepts the Orphic katabasis. In fact,
there is nothing more natural than wanting the return of one’s beloved, and
undertaking any means—even an irrational one—to make it happen.
Orpheus’s sorrow was such that the pitied “chorus of Dryads […] flood-
ed the mountains with tears of compassion” (Georgics, iv, 460), and similar
compassion seized the “souls with no blood”, Tantalus and the Eumenides
(Metamorphoses, x, 40-46). Like all these characters, the reader also feels
compassion for Orpheus. Emotion has a cathartic dimension: the reader
and audience become emotionally involved in the plot and experience the
character’s emotions and passions. What emerges from this suffering (com-
moveo) is a greater understanding of oneself. The functioning of this emo-
tional logic allows other mythical stories to reach hidden dimensions of
the human mystery. In this case, for example, something reveals―in an
undoubtedly confusing way―that physical death (one’s own or that of a
loved one) is never a satisfactory explanation of the person, that the person
is more than just his or her life or death. This is why the character feels com-
pelled to transgress, beyond rational logic, the limits of human condition,
desire and common scenario in the mythical story.
Any study of Mythcriticism remains incomplete if it does not at some
point tackle emotional logic. This component of myth is no less important
than narrative, historical or structural aspects. At some stage of the mytho-
critical analysis there should be space for our psychology and its manifesta-
tions. In fact, literature and arts are an extension, through substitution or
transposition, of our psychological perception: a metaphorical or metonym-
ic perception of the world.
In this psychological assessment of the world one has to include the bio-
logical aspect: we are also body, bones, viscera, organs and skin that react
to sensorial and intellectual stimuli; this is why we are compelled to exte-
riorize, through external senses, our most intimate reactions. Perception,
reaction and expression are combined.
What is being discussed here is whether there is a relationship between
emotions and myth. This reflection is not a simple one, mainly because any
analysis thereof runs the risk of focusing on the emotive aspects of the story
or the mythical scene in question, leaving to the benefit of inventory the
relationship between actual myth and the human affective dimension.
In fact, since the beginning of literary criticism, emotion has been stud-
ied in its manifestations both through the character’s reactions to the de-
velopment of the story and through the emotions of the recipient, reader or
Towards a Mythcriticism of Emotions 5
O dearest, for you are my dearest, none other, I have you, Orestes, far from
our country of Argos, my darling […] I left you still a baby, young in the
arms of your nurse, young in the house. O my soul, you have been more for-
tunate than words can say. I have come upon things that are beyond wonder,
far from speech […] O my friends, I have found an extraordinary joy; I am
afraid that he will fly from my hands into the air. O Cyclopean hearths; o my
6 Chapter One (I)
country, dear Mycenae, I thank you for his life, for his nourishment, because
you brought up this light of the house, my brother.
The philosopher clearly distinguishes the fact (emotion) from its mani-
festation. Against this misguided study of myths as emotions or emotions as
myths, Mythcriticism should indicate where myth is, and where emotion is1.
Without being lured by the emotions expressed in the rhetoric of the text,
one has to answer the question: is there a relationship between emotions
and myth? The aim of the following pages is to explore the relationship that
exists between myth and emotional logic, one of the most insightful keys to
understand our contemporary society.
2 On these notions, see Korichi, ed., 2000; Goddard, dir., 2006; and particularly
the small volume Qu’est-ce qu’une émotion? by J Deonna and Teroni, 2008.
10 Chapter One (I)
fourth race followed, “nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of hero-
men who are called demi-gods”. After them, comes the human race:
For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labor and sorrow by
day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon
them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with
their evils.
After disappearing from the earth, the metallic races followed different
fates: the men of the golden race became minor divinities, (“δαίμονες”, v.
122), those of the silver race became blessed spirits (“μάκαρες θνητοῖς”, v.
141), the brazen race “passed to the dank house of chill Hades, and left no
name” (“βῆσαν ἐς εὐρώεντα δόμον κρυεροῦ Αίδαο / νώνυμνοι”, v. 153-154).
As for the heroes, some died at Thebes, others at Troy, while others were
taken to the “islands of the blessed” (“ἐν μακάρων νήσοισι”, v. 171).
A detailed analysis of the text will show us the relationship between
this architecture of the cycle of ages (closer to the construction of storeys
in a building than to a chronological succession of races) and the model of
a timeless hierarchy inherent in Indo-European religious thought: the first
floor of Hesiod’s construction defines the level of sovereignty with which
the king fulfils his legal and religious activity; the second, the level of the
military role where the brutal violence of the warrior imposes his power;
the third, the level of fecundity, where the farmer is in charge of providing
the food necessary for life (Vernant, 2007, i, p. 274-276). To put it more
formally, we are dealing with the multiform divine triad (e.g. Jupiter, Mars,
Quirinus), extensively studied by Dumézil in his system of three functions:
sovereignty, military strength and work (1995, p. 1273-1373). Kings, he-
roes and workers: the “stratified” men according to their origin. The ori-
gin—which until recently has been the main dividing rule of western soci-
ety—implies an undisputable mythical significance: it ties us with our most
intimate principle, with our own life. There exists a mythical ontology of
the origins.
In this respect, Works and Days reveals an interesting bio-emotional
progression of the different races: the purer they are, the freer they are of
any cares. The golden race lives “without sorrow of heart, remote and free
from toil and grief”; throughout most of their lives, the silver race grew up
in negligence, enjoying maternal peace, before a brief moment of “sorrow
because of their foolishness”; the brazen race, dedicated to war and pride,
12 Chapter One (I)
have no need to feed themselves (“they ate no bread”); and as for the he-
roes, “they live untouched by sorrow” (at least the inhabitants of the blessed
islands: nothing is said about those who die in Thebes and Troy). A very
different picture is drawn for our race, those who “never rest from labor
and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore
trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good
mingled with their evils”. Unlike the immortal gods, the metallic races and
the heroes, men, endowed with hearts of flesh, feel and suffer, experience
emotions. It would be superficial not to see in these readings a first link be-
tween the typology of emotions and the typology of absolute origins. More
specifically, this link allows us to establish a first mythical ontology of the
human race based on biology, that is, blood, family, tribe or, as Hesiod says,
race.
2. Let us move on to the contemporary text that I mentioned above. I
have chosen different examples of a novel that is apparently not related to
myth: The Magic Mountain (1924) by Thomas Mann, the story of young
Hans Castorp in a Swiss sanatorium. One night, after dinner, under the light
of a small lantern, Professor Settembrini circulates a paper that reads:
The Professor’s words spark off an “uproar” among the diners. It is not
by chance that the event takes place on the eve of Mardi Gras, and that the
chapter is entitled “Walpurgis Night”. In this context of religious and pa-
gan beliefs, everyone reacts sardonically to the allusion of the “will-o’-the-
wisp”, a natural phenomenon that popular tradition identifies with the soul
of the deceased. There is in this sarcasm a sort of disaffection among the
diners, who relate to a religion but who mock their spurious beliefs.
One could refer to other examples, such as Naphta’s argumentation on the
fight between God and Satan, or on his comparison between Christianity and
Communism, both in the chapter “The City of God and Evil Deliverance”.
Settembrini is sceptical and does not identify with Christian religion, on the
contrary, he reacts with astounded and inquisitive questions that suggest his
denial: “I have to admit that I am shocked”. I will conclude with a passage
that clearly illustrates how two traditions are confronted depending on the
whether they are approached from the Jewish religion or the Christian reli-
gion, in the childhood memories of Naphta:
Towards a Mythcriticism of Emotions 13
He knew that Christian butchers were obliged first to stun beasts with the
blow of a club or an axe before they killed them, that this requirement was
intended to prevent animals from being cruelly tortured; whereas his father,
although much wiser and more delicate that those louts—and with eyes like
stars, which not one of them had—proceeded according to the Law and ad-
ministered the lethal cut while the creature was still fully conscious and then
let it bleed until it buckled and fell dead. Leib was a mere boy, but he saw
that the methods of those clumsy goyim, though excusably charitable, were
also profane, that they did not honor sacred things the same way his father’s
solemn pitilessness did; and so for him the idea of piety became bound up
with cruelty, just as the sight and smell of spurting blood was bound in his
mind with the idea of what is holy and spiritual.
The text, taken from the chapter entitled “Operationes Spirituales”, re-
calls the emotions of a child who, despite his young age, “sees beyond mere
appearances and penetrates the essence of things”. His knowledge (“he
knew that butchers…”) engages him even more with the inherited religion:
the respect his father shows towards the ritual prescriptions inspire him dis-
affection towards “those clumsy goyim”. The use of the Hebrew term, syn-
onymous with “non-Jewish” (Genesis x, 5), is significant: it deals with the
description of the genealogy of peoples according to territories, languages,
lineage and nations. We are still dealing with the grouping of biological
nature (as in Works and Days, by Hesiod), and also entering the cultural
and religious sphere. Not only are the butchers “clumsy” but they are also
profaners of the sacred, a term which, here, symptomatically expresses a
ritual way of treating blood according to a religion (“the sight and smell
of spurting blood was bound in his mind with the idea of what is holy and
spiritual”). Here, we can find a connection between the material principle
and the spiritual principle, the biological and the cultural, basis of the ethnic
and religious identity of the young man: the memories of his origins trigger
affection for the ritual practices of his father and the disaffection towards
other practices.
As in the case of Hesiod, the reading of this text from The Magic
Mountain suggests a second link between the typology of emotional forms
and the typology of absolute origins. More specifically, this link allows us
to establish a second mythical ontology of mankind based on culture, i.e.
tradition, language, religion.
In this way, both sides—blood and culture, race and religion—can be
compared with two chains, each one with its corresponding links that tie
us, consciously and unconsciously, to an origin and explain our identity
and, to a large extent, manifest our emotions. Thus, emotions are strongly
linked to an anthropogony. Our origin—our provenance or that of fictional
characters—has emotional and affective derivatives: it is not mere passiv-
ity, but active component, genetic and notional condensation of a world in
14 Chapter One (I)
which we feel closely identified and bound or, inversely, from which we
wish to differ and dissociate ourselves. The belonging, far from being a
social classification, acquires mythical echoes: it tells us about our most
remote origins, our possible existence in the world.
the sibling’s encounter is the result of fate. Everything in the Atreus fam-
ily is driven by fate: the fratricide of Atreus and Thyestes, the sacrifice of
Iphigenia by Agamemnon and her move to Tauris by Artemis, the killing of
Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and Ægisthus, the matricide and madness of
Orestes… It is precisely this unfortunate fate of the family that reunites—in
the same place and same temple (the actual peninsula of Crimea) and at con-
siderable distance from the homeland—the siblings for opposite ends: one
is the priestess and the other the victim. The scene does not interest us here
because it works beautifully from a structural point of view, but because it
is imbued with emotional pathos, thanks to a supernatural incident: fate.
There underlies the relationship, intimate but operational, between myth
and emotion: this fraternal encounter is an authentic mythical and emotional
anagnorisis.
2. By way of contrast, let us take a contemporary example of an an-
cient myth. In La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, by Giraudoux (1935),
Andromache confides her fears to Helen that her love for Paris is distant,
that they are only an “official couple” (“un couple officiel”, ii, 8; p. 132),
and encourages her to love Paris passionately (then the Trojan war would
make sense). Helen confirms her apprehensions: she prefers not to love him
either jealously or tenderly. Andromache, afraid that the heroine may not
return to Greece, suggests: “Have pity, Helen. It is the only help the world
needs” (“Versez-y la pitié, Hélène. C’est la seule aide dont ait besoin le
monde”, ii, 8; p. 134). Only the authentic love of Paris, the result of Helen’s
compassion for the Trojans, can make the war more meaningful or, even,
not take place: “No one, not even destiny, approaches passion with a light
heart…” (“Personne, même pas le destin, ne s’attaque d’un cœur léger à
la passion… ii, 134; p. 132). The scene is highly emotional. The specta-
tor observes the gestures of the protagonists: the smile of one, the frown
of the other. In a play of such an indisputable political and social impor-
tance—when the great powers are getting ready for another global war—,
Giraudoux combines myth with a series of emotions and affections. The
tragedy recounts, time and again, the unbearable: the Trojan War will inevi-
tably take place. Against the social institution that appoints her to Sparta, the
protagonist is destined to the hero of Troy. As we know, during the famous
trial between Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, Paris had designated the latter
as the most beautiful woman; in turn, the Cytherea promised to help him
abduct Helen, who then changed her name: from Helen of Sparta to Helen
of Troy. Once again, we are facing a supernatural phenomenon. Fate has
inexorably united the two lovers. This explains why the opposite affections
of Helen and Andromache in Giraudoux’ play are of mythical order: the
love Helen feels for Paris cannot confine itself to reasons of free will (love
jealously, as Andromache suggests); it is, by definition, an automatic love:
Helen confesses to gravitate round Paris like a “star in his constellation”
16 Chapter One (I)
gins with the arrival of the actor in a bus. Jesus Christ wears a simple white
tunic while he spreads his arms; the notes of the main melody are playing.
The scenes continue; the one with Judas condensates the great drama: who
is Jesus? The apostle sees in Jesus the prophet of the poor and needy, not the
Son of God and Saviour of the world. Hence his ruthless criticism towards
his travel companions: if they continue idealizing and praising Jesus, they
will convert him in a threat for the Roman Empire—in other words, they
will lead him to his death. Everyone turns a deaf ear to his warnings and
yearns to go to Jerusalem with Jesus to crown him King… The rest of the
story, mainly faithful to the Gospel, is universally known. When Jesus is
about to be crucified, he accepts a derisive vision of Judas: the apostle asks
him whether he has chosen this ending, if agony is part of the divine plan.
Jesus does not respond and, after entrusting his spirit to God, dies slowly on
the cross. The film concludes with an instrumental act: the apostles, Mary
and Judas lament the death of Jesus while reflecting on the impact he has
had on their lives.
The film was controversial for its time: it presented the actors as hippies,
the passion of Christ from the point of view of the treacherous apostle and
a Jesus more human than divine. This director’s determination (the contra-
position between the humanity and divinity of Jesus) is a source of con-
flicting emotions and disparate affections that experience and convey the
characters: hope and joy transmitted through songs and dance are followed
by sadness expressed through profound silences, especially at the end of
the film, when at the sound of the mournful music everyone gets on the bus
with a frustrated gesture. On his side, the spectator—while struggling with
contrasting states of mind—cannot contain his emotions and commiserates
with Jesus’ friends. This compassion increases thanks to the symmetry be-
tween this scene and the introductory scene when everyone gets out of the
bus, full of joy and ready for the show…
The example of Jewison’s film and the example of the evangelical Jesus
are not, however, compatible with the other examples studied above.
The film shows the confrontation between the Jesus who is mythified
by the eleven apostles and demythified by Judas; consequently, the latter
does not interpret the cross as the result of a mythical destiny, but as the
Nazarene’s insistence on his prophetic nature (that Judas considers fraudu-
lent) and the insistence of his naïve apostles on bringing him to Jerusalem
to pronounce him king.
In the Gospel, Jesus is not driven by destiny; instead, he freely bears
death to redeem humanity:
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this
hour’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your
name”. Then a voice came from Heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glo-
18 Chapter One (I)
rify it again”. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thun-
dered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him”. Jesus answered, “This
voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world;
now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from
the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John, 12, 27-32).
in the empty room. The music and dances have ended. Desperate before
the forthcoming separation, he kisses the young woman who has… frozen
lips! The professor approaches him with steps that sound hollow, “and his
figure, around which floating shadows were playing, took on a frighten-
ing and ghostly aspect” (“und seine Figur, von flackernden Schlagschatten
umpspielt, hatte ein grauliches gespendstisches Ansehen”, ed. Steinecke
& Allroggen, p 40). With these words, doubts begin to dissipate from the
reader around the relationship between Spalanzani and the other world. The
afterlife world had irrupted at the beginning of the story, when Nathanael re-
called the panic caused, as a child, by the unreal visits of the sandman in his
bedroom, and by a mysterious Coppelius who used to visit his father. Now,
victim of excitement and stupefaction, Nathanael disregards the strangeness
that Spalanzani inspires him and declares his love to Olimpia, who limits
herself to answer repeatedly: “Ah - Ah!” Nathanael, unmoved by the stu-
pefaction that everyone shows towards the young woman, repeatedly visits
his beloved. His friend Siegmund blames his love, “this stone face […]
strangely rigid and soulless”; the warning is unequivocal: “This Olimpia
seems strangely disturbing” (“Uns ist diese Olimpia ganz unheimlich ge-
worden”, p. 42; the use of the adjective “unheimlich” is crucial). However,
Nathanael does not change his mind, but rather he despises the prosaism of
his friend and praises the “poetic soul” of his beloved; thereupon he turns
up unexpectedly at Spalanzani’s house with a ring to ask for his daughter’s
hand. He is then faced with a macabre scene: the professor, fallen on the
ground, begs him to chase the barometer salesman, Coppelius, who has just
hit him and escaped with the dead body of Olimpia, leaving him only with
her eyes, that Spalanzani throws on the chest of Nathanael. The young man
suddenly falls into a state of madness.
Although late, the protagonist discovers the identity between Coppelius,
murderer of his father, and Coppola, the barometer and lens salesman: the
fantastic is based on the optical illusion that captures the young man―re-
member the scene of voyeurism with the telescope―. The scene of the
fight between Spalanzani and Coppola shows interesting symmetries with
a dream of young Nathanael at the beginning of the story, in which his
father begged the sinister Coppelius: “Master, master! Leave my small
Nathanael’s eyes! Leave him his eyes!”. A year later, the father died during
one of his experiments in the company of Coppelius…
Throughout the story, Nathanael experiences conflicting emotions. Apart
from those which are detached from the structure of the fictional plot—the
love for Olimpia—, the other emotions result from the contact with the un-
canny: firstly, his fear before the sandman and the diabolic Coppelius—the
attribute is not metaphorical—; then, his spasms as he encounters the lens
salesman Coppola, or even professor Spalanzani or the beautiful Olimpia;
Towards a Mythcriticism of Emotions 21
only his loving stupefaction prevents him from revealing the truth. The
huge contrasting emotions he experiences—symbolized by the difference
between ardent love and the corporal coldness of Olimpia—gives an ac-
count of the disparity between the reality of the world and the world of his
imagination, driving him first to madness and, finally, to suicide, before the
sarcastic gaze of Coppelius.
2. A film by Cocteau also represents fantastic situations where the pro-
tagonist―like Nathanael in his dream of the satanic Coppelius―is pris-
oner of illusions and panic. Le Sang d’un poète (1930) includes a series
of scenes closely related to vision of the fantastic and the uncanny, two
genres that always trigger intense emotions. I will only outline episodes 1
and 2, undoubtedly the most useful for our reflection. While the enormous
factory chimney starts to collapse, one listens to the title of the first epi-
sode: “The wounded hand, the scars of the poet”. 11th May 1745: the poet
(Enrique Rivero) discovers, astonished, that the female face he is drawing
has left her lips printed on the palm of his hand. He kisses them, horrified.
He falls asleep. The second episode is entitled “Do walls have ears?”. A
female statue without arms suddenly comes alive “after an age-old sleep”
and invites the poet to “enter the mirror and wander”. It is a challenge to
prove that mirrors can be crossed, something the poet had written with dis-
belief (“Tu as écrit qu’on entrait dans les glaces, et tu n’y croyais pas. […]
Essaie”). The protagonist throws himself against the mirror, submerges in
the water and flows out in the “hotel of the dramatic absurdities”. It consists
of a hotel corridor where he painstakingly moves forward so as not to lose
balance. Gripped by curiosity, he looks through the keyholes of different
doors and discovers unusual scenes: the repeated execution of a Mexican
(he falls, gets up, falls…), the mysteries of China (shadows and smoke of
an opium pipe are reflected on the ceiling), “the flying lessons” (given to
a girl by a governess with a whiplash), “le rendez-vous d’hermaphrodites”
(an alternatively masculine and feminine character desperately lying on a
sofa). Afterwards, a gun is handed to the poet and lists (“mode of use”)
the steps he has to follow to shoot himself with a bullet in the head; the
poet obeys the instructions, blood gushes out and a laurel crown covers his
forehead. The poet immediately comes to his senses, rejects his adventure
and laboriously returns to the hotel corridor, emerges from the water and
reappears through the mirror while a voice exclaims: (“Les miroirs feraient
mieux de réfléchir un peu plus avant de renvoyer les images”), a sentence
particularly appreciated by the poet (1989, p. 193). Visibly angry, he takes
a mace and smashes the statue of the woman to pieces. Again, the voice-
over: “By breaking statues, one runs the risk of becoming one” (“À casser
les statues, on risque d’en devenir une soi-même”). In the immediate scene,
which takes place in a contemporary city, the poet appears transformed into
22 Chapter One (I)
a statue. After the episodes 3 and 4 (“The battle of the snowballs” and “The
desecration of the Host” respectively), while one can hear the word “End”,
the chimney completely collapses: everything has occurred in the twinkling
of an eye, in a dream.
In his book of confidences, anecdotes and reflections on ordinary life,
Cocteau writes:
The Blood of a Poet is a descent into oneself, a way of using the mechanism of
the dream without sleeping, a crooked candle, often mysteriously blown out,
carried about in the night of the human body. There the actions link as they
please, under so feeble a control that one could not ascribe it to the mind.
“Le Sang d’un poète” n’est qu’une descente en soi-même, une manière
d’employer le mécanisme du rêve sans dormir, une bougie maladroite, sou-
vent éteinte par quelque souffle, promenée dans la nuit du corps humain. Les
actes s’y enchaînent comme ils le veulent, sous un contrôle si faible qu’on ne
saurait l’attribuer à l’esprit (1947, p. 63).
- Firstly, unlike other mythical katabasis4, in Le Sang d’un poète the bio-
physical heterogeneity is only apparent and symbolic. The resort to the
two moments of the collapsing of the chimney as beacons of the story is
aimed to symbolise that the intradiegetic story is an oneiric journey with
elements of reality.
- Secondly, there is no supernatural and personal transcendence in the
film (a divine, angelic, diabolic or other spirit that symbolizes it), not
even a cosmic transcendence (impersonal instance with which the hu-
man being can merge or disappear).
Strictly speaking, there is not “another transcendent” world, everything
happens in this one, and in the protagonist’s dream, the idea Cocteau has
of the poet. In this case, the world of the fantastic and of fantasy adjoin the
mythical world without coexisting.
In turn, the scenes of voyeurism introduce the unfamiliar element. Each
time the poet peers through the keyhole, he is filled with stupor: he sees
the images that no one believed. The confusion takes hold of the conscious
of the poet and of the spectator: they both feel overwhelmed with emotion
as they contemplate the possibility of the impossible; the unreal world be-
comes real and vice versa: the real world, left behind on the other side of
the mirror, loses consistency. Anxiety takes shape. It is the experience of
the uncanny.
But the series of visions that the poet experiences in “the hotel of dra-
matic absurdities” prove to be a lure: the shooting in the head shows the
poet that it is impossible to transfer them in the real life. He therefore re-
jects them and returns, disenchanted, to his room, determined to destroy the
statue. This is why “the mirrors should reflect a little more before sending
back the images” (“Les miroirs feraient mieux de réfléchir un peu plus avant
de renvoyer les images”). Let us understand the double syntactic ambigu-
ity. On the one hand, the word play on the double meaning in the first half
of the sentence: a single signifier (the verb “réfléchir”) has two meanings
(“reflect”, “think”); on the other hand, the word play on the double meaning
in the second half: a single signifier (the noun “images”) has two meanings
(the image of the poet reflected by the mirror before the immersion, the
images of the journey during the immersion). The sentence, expression of
a useless wish, contains an unquestionable bitterness. When the oneiric-
fantastic vision concludes, the poet commits suicide, the statue dies with
him, together with a globe and a lyre: the film is the first part of Cocteau’s
“Orphic trilogy”. Dream and reality are put on the same level.
4 Ulysses navigating the waters and arriving “at the limits of the deep ocean”
―Homer, Odyssey, xi―, Orpheus descending into Hades in search of Eurydice―
Ovid, Metamorphosis x―, or, even, in another film by Cocteau―Orphée, 1960―.
24 Chapter One (I)
The unfolding of the film shows that “poetry is the opposite of dream,
of disorder”, that poetry is real, that the rebellious reality of mystery exists
(Cocteau, 1989, p. 468). From an optical reflection, this speculation on il-
lusion and reality, on the truth of the imaginary world, does not leave one
indifferent. The access to another world, on which reality admits no doubts,
is disturbing. Not only myth is frightening.
5. Conclusions
It has seemed convenient to me to establish clear distinctions. On one
side, the parallelism between what I have named the “absolute origin” and
the “absolute destiny” is striking. The reason is purely mythical, not fic-
tional: while origin aims at cosmogony, fate aims at eschatology. Both con-
tain—with the emotions and affections they trigger—an etiologic code that
reflects back to the founding myth in an always absolute code.
On the other hand, the psychological shock of strange situations and
optical illusions spontaneously releases emotions and affections, but myth-
criticism should not be deceived, it should distinguish both the uncanny
and the fantastic of the world of mythical transcendence. There is now a
promising field of research on the relationships between biopsychology, the
uncanny, the fantastic, fantasy and myth.
The examples analysed above illustrate how the structure of myths fa-
vours situations that are particularly defined by intense impressions and
feelings. My emphasis here has been to distinguish an emotion caused by
textual structure, from another emotion caused by mythical structure: myth
has an eminently emotional and affective character, in the characters as well
as in the consumers of literary and artistic productions, result of the trans-
gression of the limits of our condition.
I have only identified focal points between myth, emotions and affec-
tions. Much still needs to be done: it is necessary to connect our psycho-
logical experiences with the psychosomatic rhetoric of myths. Culture
Mythcriticism has to include the description and analysis of the paths where
the rhetoric of individual and social psychology intersects with the cultural
practice of myths. Mythological studies have to indicate the recourse to
emotional logic and the consequences of the empathic connection in mythi-
cal stories (cathartic dimension): they have to bring to light the parallelism
between the “emotional origin” and the “emotional destiny”, between cos-
mogonic eschatological dimensions of the human being.
Towards a Mythcriticism of Emotions 25
Works Cited
Primary Sources
Aristotle. Ars Poetica. R. Kassel, ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966. Web:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Poética. Valentín García Yebra, ed. y trad. Madrid: Gredos, 1974.
Cocteau, Jean. Le Sang d’un poète, 1930, prod. Vicomte Charles de Noailles.
—. Journal. 1942-1945. Paris: Gallimard, 1989.
—. La Difficulté d’être. Paris: Paul Morihien, 1947.
Euripides. Tragedies, in Euripidis Fabulae. Gilbert Murray, ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1913, vol. 2. Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
Giraudoux, Jean. La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu. Paris: Grasset, 1991.
Hesiod. Works and days, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Hugh G.
Evelyn-White, ed. Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press & London,
William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Obras y fragmentos. Aurelio Pérez Jiménez y Alfonso Martínez Díez,
ed. y trad. Madrid: Gredos, 1978.
Hoffmann, E.T.A. Nachtstücke. Klein Zaches. Prinzessin Brambilla.
Werke 1816-1820, Harmut Steinecke & Gerhard Allroggen, ed. Berlin:
Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, 1985, vol. 3.
Mann, Thomas. Der Zauberberg. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag,
1981.
—. The Magic Mountain. A Novel, trans. into English by John Edwin
Woods. New York: Vintage International, 1996 (reprint, New York-
London-Toronto: A. A. Knopf, 2005).
Ovid. Metamorfosis. Antonio Ruiz de Elvira, ed. y trad. Madrid: c.s.i.c.,
1994, 3 vols.
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel. L’Évangile selon Pilate. Paris: Albin Michel,
2000.
Shaw, Bernard. Man and Superman. Dan H. Laurence, ed. London: Penguin,
1957.
Virgil. Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough ed. Boston: Ginn &
Co. 1900.Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
26 Chapter One (I)
Criticism
Cassirer, Ernst. The Myth of State. New Haven & London: Yale University
Press, 1946. (1st published in English).
Deonna Julien, A. et Fabrice Teroni. Qu’est-ce qu’une émotion? Paris:
Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, 2008.
Dumézil, Georges. Mythe et Épopée i. ii. iii. Joël H. Grisward, pref. Paris:
Gallimard, “Quarto”, 1995.
Goddard Jean-Christophe, dir. La Pulsion. Paris: Librairie Philosophique J.
Vrin, 2006.
Korichi, Mériam, ed. Les Passions. Paris: Flammarion, 2000.
Milner, Max. La Fantasmagorie. Essai sur l’optique fantastique. Paris:
Presses Universitaires de France, 1982.
Vernant, Jean-Pierre. Œuvres. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2007, 2 vols.
Chapter One (ii)
Hacia una mitocrítica de las emociones
(Spanish version)
¡Ay, queridísimo hermano, pues eres lo que más quiero, y nada más! ¡Por
fin te he recuperado, Orestes, por fin has venido desde muy lejos, de nuestra
tierna patria, de Argos! ¡Ay, querido mío! […] Entonces, siendo todavía un
bebé, te dejé, un pequeñín en brazos de la nodriza, un pequeñín en palacio.
¡Oh, alma que has alcanzado una dicha inenarrable! ¿Qué podría decir? Más
allá de cualquier maravilla y lejos de toda explicación ha resultado este en-
cuentro. […] Un insólito placer de mí ha hecho presa, amigas mías. Temo
que de mis brazos al éter volando escape. ¡Ay, hogar ciclópeo! ¡Ay, patria!
¡Micenas querida! ¡Gracias te doy por su vida! ¡Gracias te doy por su crian-
za! ¡Porque a mi hermano, a esta sangre de mi sangre, criaste, luz de la casa!
(1999, vol. ii, p. 286).
mo―, aun cuando sea indudablemente útil desde una perspectiva literaria,
no es de orden mitocrítico: al limitarse a la psicología de los personajes,
hace abstracción del mito. Es un error, por desgracia habitual, confundir el
estudio de la emoción en el relato mítico con el estudio de la emoción como
consecuencia del mito: en la ópera Ariadna en Naxos (Ariadne auf Naxos),
de R. Strauss, la emoción de la que se siente invadido el Compositor durante
el encuentro entre Baco y Ariadna no tiene ninguna relación con el mito de
Ariadna. Se trata de una emoción estructural, dependiente de un relato, no
de una emoción mítica, surgida del mito.
A este propósito,conviene recordar la protesta de Cassirer:
2 Sobre estas nociones, ver Korichi, ed., 2000; Goddard, dir., 2006; y, sobre todo,
el pequeño manual Qu’est-ce qu’une émotion?, de Deonna y Teroni, 2008.
34 Chapter One (II)
Y […] ahora existe una estirpe de hierro. Nunca durante el día se verán libres
de fatigas y miserias ni dejarán de consumirse durante la noche, y los dioses
les procurarán ásperas inquietudes; pero, no obstante, también se mezclarán
alegrías con sus males (1978, p. 133).
Las palabras del maestro hacen estallar “la algazara” entre los comen-
sales. No es indiferente que nos encontremos en la víspera del martes de
Carnaval ni que el capítulo lleve por título “Noche de Walpurgis”. En ese
contexto de creencias religiosas y paganas, todos reaccionan con socarrone-
ría ante la alusión al “fuego fatuo”, fenómeno natural que la tradición popu-
lar identifica con el alma de un difunto. Hay en este sarcasmo un desafecto
entre los huéspedes sentados a la mesa, que se identifican con una religión
pero se mofan de sus creencias espurias.
Podrían aducirse otros ejemplos, como la argumentación de Naphta so-
bre la disputa entre Dios y Satanás (vi, p. 573), o sobre su equiparación
entre cristianismo y comunismo (vi, p. 584), ambas en el capítulo “Del reino
de Dios y de la salvación”. El incrédulo Settembrini no se identifica con
la religión cristiana, al contrario, reacciona con preguntas inquisitoriales y
asombradas que traducen su rechazo: “…debo admitir que estoy conmocio-
nado…”. Concluiré con un pasaje que dibuja de manera emblemática cómo
se confrontan dos costumbres, según sean enfocadas desde la religión judía
o la religión cristiana, en el recuerdo de Naphta niño:
Sabía que los carniceros cristianos tenían que aturdir a los animales con un
golpe de maza o de hacha antes de matarlos, y que esta práctica tenía por
objeto evitar la crueldad y el sufrimiento de los animales, mientras que su
padre, además de ser mucho más delicado y sabio que aquellos ganapanes y
de que sus ojos brillasen con una luz que no poseía ninguno de ellos, obraba
según la ley, degollando al animal aún consciente y dejando que se desan-
grase hasta morir. El joven Leib sentía que el método de aquellos burdos
goyim daba muestra de una bondad profana y entendida a la ligera que no
honraba lo sagrado en la misma medida que la solemne ausencia de piedad
del acto que practicaba su padre, con lo cual, en la mente del muchacho, la
idea de piedad religiosa estaba estrechamente ligada a la idea de crueldad,
del mismo modo en que asociaba la vista y el olor de la sangre manando a
borbotones con la idea de lo sagrado y lo espiritual (vi, p. 638-39).
amor por Paris es frío, que no forman sino “una pareja oficial” (“un couple
officiel”, ii, 8; p. 132), y la intima a que ame violentamente a Paris (entonces
la guerra de Troya tendría un sentido). Hélène la confirma en sus aprensio-
nes: prefiere no amarlo ni celosa ni tiernamente. Andromaque, temerosa de
que la heroína se resista a retornar a Grecia, le sugiere: “Vuelca también
toda la compasión, Hélène, es lo único que necesita el mundo” (“Versez-y
la pitié, Hélène. C’est la seule aide dont ait besoin le monde”, ii, 8; p. 134).
Solo el auténtico amor por Paris, resultado de la compasión de Hélène por
los Troyanos, puede conseguir que la guerra tenga un sentido o que, incluso,
no tenga lugar: “Nadie, ni siquiera el destino, se enfrenta con ligereza a la
pasión…” (“Personne, même pas le destin, ne s’attaque d’un cœur léger à
la passion…”, ii, 134; p. 132). La escena es altamente emotiva. El espec-
tador repara en los gestos de las protagonistas: la sonrisa de la primera, el
fruncimiento de cejas de la segunda. En una obra de indiscutible calado
político y social―cuando las grandes potencias se preparan para una nue-
va conflagración mundial―, Giraudoux combina un mito con una serie de
emociones y afectos. La tragedia relata, una y otra vez, lo insoportable: irre-
misiblemente, la guerra de Troya tendrá lugar. Frente a la institución social,
que la adscribe a Esparta, la protagonista está destinada al héroe de Troya.
Como se sabe, en el célebre juicio entre Atenea, Hera y Afrodita, Paris había
designado a esta última como la más bella; en correspondencia, la Citerea
le prometió y ayudó a raptar a la más hermosa de las mujeres, que por eso
cambió el nombre: de Helena de Esparta a Helena de Troya. De nuevo nos
encontramos ante un acontecimiento de orden sobrenatural. El destino ha
unido inexorablemente a los dos amantes. De ahí que los afectos opuestos
de Hélène y Andromaque en la pieza de Giraudoux sean de orden mítico:
el amor de Hélène por Paris no puede atenerse a razones del libre albedrío
(amar celosamente, como sugiere Andromaque); es, por definición, un amor
automático: Hélène confiesa gravitar en torno a Paris como “una estrella en
su constelación” (“une étoile dans sa constellation”), está “imantada por él”
(“aimantée par lui”, Ibid.). Con razón Andromaque sospechaba que el amor
de la pareja era “oficial”: la atracción entre Hélène y Paris no es fruto del
amor intenso, sino del destino insoslayable. Al igual que en Ifigenia entre
los tauros, y por encima de consideraciones sobre la estructura dramática
del amor, la mitocrítica desvela que este amor no es meramente humano,
sino propiamente mítico.
3. Los mitos modernos también incluyen una motivación mítica de las
emociones y los afectos. En Man and Superman (1903), de Bernard Shaw,
el difunto Mr. Whitefield ha dejado escrito en su testamento quién ha de
cuidar de su hija Ann. Ramsdem, venerable anciano, supone que él ha sido
designado para esta grata misión, cuando John Tanner se presenta con una
copia del testamento, origen de una acalorada conversación:
Hacia una mitocrítica de las emociones 41
“Ahora mi alma está turbada. Y ¿qué voy a decir? ¡Padre, líbrame de esta
hora! Pero ¡si he llegado a esta hora para esto! Padre, glorifica tu nombre”.
Vino entonces una voz del cielo: “Le he glorificado y de nuevo le glorifi-
caré”. […] Jesús respondió: “Ahora es el juicio de este mundo; ahora el
príncipe de este mundo será echado fuera. Y yo cuando sea levantado de la
Hacia una mitocrítica de las emociones 43
tierra, atraeré a todos hacia mí”. Decía esto para significar de qué muerte iba
a morir (Juan, 12, 27-32).
la joven, que tiene… ¡los labios helados! Se acerca el profesor con pasos
que resuenan huecos, “y su figura, alrededor de la cual jugueteaban sombras
flotantes, tenía un aspecto espantoso y fantasmal” (“und seine Figur, von
flackernden Schlagschatten umspielt, hatte ein grauliches gespenstisches
Ansehen”, ed. Steinecke & Allroggen, p. 40). Con estas palabras se disipan
las dudas del lector sobre la relación entre Spalanzani y el otro mundo. El
mundo del más allá había hecho irrupción al comienzo del relato, cuando
Nathanael recordaba el pánico que le producían, de niño, tanto las irreales
visitas del Hombre de Arena a su dormitorio como las visitas reales de un
misterioso Coppelius a su padre. Ahora, víctima de la excitación y el ato-
londramiento, Nathanael desecha la extrañeza que le inspira Spalanzani y
declara su amor a Olimpia, que se limita a responder repetidamente: “¡Ah
- Ah!” Nathanael, indiferente también a la estupefacción de todo el mun-
do sobre la conducta de la joven, repite las visitas a su amada. Su amigo
Siegmund le achaca su amor por “esa cara de cera […] extrañamente rígida
y sin alma”; el aviso es inequívoco: “Esa Olimpia nos parece extrañamente
inquietante” (“Uns ist diese Olimpia ganz unheimlich geworden”, p. 42;
la aparición del adjetivo “unheimlich” es crucial). Sin embargo, Nathanael
no cambia de opinión, antes bien, menosprecia el prosaísmo de su amigo y
ensalza el “alma poética” de su amada; seguidamente, se presenta de impro-
viso, con una sortija en la mano, en casa de Spalanzani para pedirle la mano
de su hija. Se topa entonces con una escena macabra: el profesor, caído en el
suelo, le ruega que persiga al vendedor de barómetros, Coppelius, que acaba
de golpearle y darse a la huida con el cuerpo sin vida de Olimpia, de la que
solo le ha dejado los ojos, que Spalanzani arroja al pecho de Nathanael. El
joven cae súbitamente en la locura.
Aunque tarde, el protagonista descubre la identidad entre Coppelius,
asesino de su padre, y Coppola, vendedor de barómetros y lentes: lo fantás-
tico se basa en la ilusión óptica que se adueña del joven―recuérdese su vo-
yerismo armado de un telescopio―. La escena de la pelea entre Spalanzani
y Coppola guarda curiosas simetrías con un sueño del joven Nathanael
situado al comienzo del relato, en el que su padre suplicaba al siniestro
Coppelius: “¡Maestro, maestro! ¡Deja sus ojos a mi pequeño Nathanael!
¡Déjale los ojos!” Un año después, el padre moría durante uno de sus expe-
rimentos en compañía de Coppelius…
A lo largo del relato Nathanael experimenta emociones encontradas. Al
margen de las que se deslindan de la estructura de la trama novelesca―
el amor por Olimpia―, las demás resultan del contacto con lo siniestro:
primero, su temor ante el Hombre de Arena y el diabólico Coppelius―el
atributo no es metafórico―; después, su pasmo al toparse con el vendedor
de lentes Coppola, o incluso el profesor Spalanzani o la bella Olimpia; solo
su atolondramiento amoroso le impide desvelar la verdad. El gigantesco
46 Chapter One (II)
las estatuas, se corre el riesgo de convertirse en una” (“À casser les statues,
on risque d’en devenir une soi-même”). En la escena inmediata, situada en
una ciudad contemporánea, el poeta aparece transformado en estatua. Tras
los episodios 3º y 4º (“La batalla de bolas de nieve” y “La profanación de la
hostia” respectivamente), mientras se escucha la palabra “Fin”, la chimenea
se desploma por completo: todo ha ocurrido en un abrir y cerrar de ojos, en
un sueño.
En su libro de confidencias, anécdotas y reflexiones sobre la vida ordi-
naria, Cocteau escribe:
“Le Sang d’un poète” n’est qu’une descente en soi-même, une manière
d’employer le mécanisme du rêve sans dormir, une bougie maladroite, sou-
vent éteinte par quelque souffle, promenée dans la nuit du corps humain. Les
actes s’y enchaînent comme ils le veulent, sous un contrôle si faible qu’on ne
saurait l’attribuer à l’esprit (1947, p. 63).
4 Ulises surcando las aguas y llegando “a los límites del profundo océano”―Homero,
Odisea, xi―, Orfeo descendiendo al Hades en búsqueda de Eurídice―Ovidio,
Metamorfosis, x―, o, incluso, en otra película del mismo Cocteau― Orphée, 1960―.
Hacia una mitocrítica de las emociones 49
5. Conclusiones
Me ha parecido conveniente establecer distinciones claras. Por un lado,
el paralelismo entre lo que he denominado “origen absoluto” y “destino
absoluto” es sorprendente. El motivo es de orden puramente mítico, no na-
rratológico: mientras el origen apunta a una cosmogonía, el destino apunta
a una escatología. Ambos, con las emociones y los afectos que desencade-
nan, contienen una clave etiológica que reenvía al mito fundante en clave
siempre absoluta.
Por otro lado, el choque psicológico de situaciones extrañas y de ilusio-
nes ópticas libera espontáneamente emociones y afectos, pero la mitocrítica
no debe llamarse a engaño, sino que debe distinguir el doblete de lo sinies-
tro y lo fantástico de los mundos de la trascendencia mítica. Hay un campo
prometedor para la investigación sobre las relaciones entre la biopsicología,
lo siniestro, lo fantástico, la fantasía y el mito.
Los ejemplos analizados muestran cómo la estructura de los mitos pro-
picia situaciones particularmente marcadas por impresiones y sentimientos
intensos. Aquí he hecho particular hincapié en distinguir una emoción, la
provocada por la estructura textual propiamente literaria, de otra emoción,
la provocada por la estructura textual literaria propiamente mítica: el mito
tiene un carácter eminentemente emocional y afectivo, tanto en los perso-
najes como en los consumidores de las producciones literarias y artísticas,
fruto de la transgresión de los límites de nuestra condición.
Aquí solo he señalado puntos de convergencia entre el mito, las emo-
ciones y los afectos. Queda mucho trabajo por delante: es preciso conectar
nuestras vivencias psicológicas con la retórica psicosomática de los mitos.
La Mitocrítica Cultural debe incluir la descripción y el análisis de los ca-
minos donde la retórica de la psicología individual y social se cruza con la
práctica cultural de los mitos. Los estudios sobre mitología deben indicar el
recurso a la lógica emocional y las consecuencias de la conexión empática
en los relatos míticos (dimensión catártica): deben poner de manifiesto el
paralelismo entre el “origen emocional” y el “destino emocional”, entre las
dimensiones cosmogónica y escatológica del ser humano.
50 Chapter One (II)
Obras citadas
Textos
Aristóteles. Ars Poetica. R. Kassel, ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.
Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Poética. Valentín García Yebra, ed. y trad. Madrid: Gredos, 1974.
Cocteau, Jean. Le Sang d’un poète, 1930, prod. Vicomte Charles de Noailles.
—. Journal. 1942-1945. Paris: Gallimard, 1989.
—. La Difficulté d’être. Paris: Paul Morihien, 1947.
Eurípides. Tragedias, Euripidis Fabulae. Gilbert Murray, ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1913, vol. 2. Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Juan Miguel Labiano, ed. Madrid: Cátedra, “Letras universales”, 1999,
vol. ii.
Giraudoux, Jean. La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu. Paris: Grasset, 1991.
Hesíodo. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Hugh G. Evelyn-White,
ed. Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press & London, William
Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Obras y fragmentos. Aurelio Pérez Jiménez y Alfonso Martínez Díez,
ed. y trad. Madrid: Gredos, 1978.
Hoffmann, E.T.A. Nachtstücke. Klein Zaches. Prinzessin Brambilla. Werke
1816-1820, Harmut Steinecke & Gerhard Allroggen, ed. Deutscher
Klassiker Verlag, 1985, vol. 3.
Mann, Thomas. Der Zauberberg. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag,
1981.
—. La montaña mágica. Isabel García Adánez, trad. Barcelona: Edhasa,
2009.
Ovidio. Metamorfosis. Antonio Ruiz de Elvira, ed. y trad. Madrid: c.s.i.c.,
1994, 3 vols.
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel. L’Évangile selon Pilate. Paris: Albin Michel,
2000.
Shaw, Bernard. Man and Superman. Dan H. Laurence, ed. London: Penguin,
1957.
Virgilio. Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough ed. Boston: Ginn
& Co. 1900.Web: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
—. Bucólicas. Geórgicas. Apéndice virgiliano, Tomás Recio García y
Arturo Soler Ruiz, trad. Madrid: Gredos, 2008.
Hacia una mitocrítica de las emociones 51
Crítica
Cassirer, Ernst. The Myth of State. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946.
(editado primeramente en inglés).
—. El mito del Estado. Eduardo Nicol, trad. México: Fondo de Cultura
Económica, 1968.
Deonna Julien, A. y Fabrice Teroni. Qu’est-ce qu’une émotion? Paris: Li-
brairie Philosophique J. Vrin, 2008.
Dumézil, Georges. Mythe et Épopée i. ii. iii. Joël H. Grisward, pref. Paris:
Gallimard, “Quarto”, 1995.
Goddard Jean-Christophe, dir. La Pulsion. Paris: Librairie Philosophique J.
Vrin, 2006.
Korichi, Mériam, ed. Les Passions. Paris: Flammarion, 2000.
Milner, Max. La Fantasmagorie. Essai sur l’optique fantastique. Paris:
Presses Universitaires de France, 1982.
Vernant, Jean-Pierre. Œuvres. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2007, 2 vols.
Abstracts
Myth and Emotions 311
Título
Umberto Saba entre mito, nostalgia y retorno a la infancia. Il piccolo Berto
Resumen
Umberto Saba (Trieste, 1883-Gorizia, 1957) propone en su Cancionero
[Canzoniere] un itinerario poético introspectivo impregnado por la nostal-
gia de la infancia. La emoción del recuerdo aparece concebida, en el caso
del poemario El pequeño Berto [Il piccolo Berto (1929-1931)], como un
viaje onírico al pasado. Esta obra surgió, según palabras del propio Saba,
durante una cura psicoanalítica.
El pequeño Berto comienza con un triple poema introductorio, cuyo
arranque lleva implícito el concepto del sueño (“Mi hija / me abraza el cue-
llo con desnudo brazo […] / y yo con su caricia me adormezco”) y el inicio
de un viaje a la niñez (“[…] arribo / […] al verde paraíso de la infancia”).
Ensoñación y retorno aparecen asociados a la figura de Ulises, que está
presente, al igual que otros personajes de la mitología grecolatina, en toda
la trayectoria poética de Umberto Saba.
Este estudio nos permite ahondar en las diferencias y similitudes entre
símbolo, prototipo y mito, utilizando las herramientas que el estructuralis-
mo y el psicoanálisis nos ofrecen para comprender el universo metapoético
de este autor.
Abstract
Umberto Saba (Trieste, 1883-Gorizia, 1957) proposes an introspective
view of his life in his major work, Il Canzoniere. In Il piccolo Berto (1929-
1931) the emotions raised by the memory of childhood are conceived like
a journey into the past, an oneiric experience linked to his psychoanalytical
therapy.
The first poem of Il piccolo Berto starts with a daydream (“Mia figlia /
mi tiene il braccio intorno al collo, ignudo […] / ed io alla sua carezza mi
addormento”) that brings the reader into his children’s world (“[…] appro-
do / […] ai verdi paradisi dell’infanzia”). The feeling of nostalgia is associ-
ated to Ulysses and his return to Ithaca, among other mythical characters.
The aim of this Chapter is to delve into differences and similarities
among symbol, myth and archetype in Il piccolo Berto. Structuralism, psy-
choanalysis and mythcriticism are the principal tools applied.
312 Abstracts
Título
El mito y la evocación inefable
Resumen
Este texto analiza los mitos como medios de metacognición. Muestra
con algunos ejemplos cómo los mitos clásicos son frecuentemente narracio-
nes que producen un choque emocional y cognitivo. Apoyándose en autores
fundamentales de este campo, que se muestran a favor de una profunda
función de los mitos en nuestras emociones y cogniciones, el texto afirma
que el lenguaje y las imágenes de los mitos desvían las funciones semánti-
cas y sensoriales de la comunicación para forzar una mayor profundidad de
nuestra visión de la vida y el universo.
Abstract
This text analyses myth as a way of metacognition. It shows with some
examples how classical myths are frequently narrations which produce a
crack in our common ways of feeling and thinking. Following some main
authors in the field, which are in favour of a deep function of myth in our
cognitions and emotions, the text affirms that language and images of myth
deviate the semantical and emotional function of communication to force a
deepening into our vision of life and the universe.
Myth and Emotions 313
Título
Antígona en Chalandon y los hermanos Dardenne: de las emociones a la
superación de la tragedia
Resumen
Este trabajo estudia el binomio razón / emociones en dos producciones
contemporáneas en las que el personaje de Antígona tiene un papel emi-
nente: la novela Le quatrième mur, de Sorj Chalandon, y la película La
promesse, de los hermanos Dardenne. A partir de este análisis se propone un
diálogo con las interpretaciones hegeliana y kierkegaardiana de la tragedia
sofoclea, diálogo del que emergen cuestiones como la libertad o los límites
de la Pietas, y que permite hablar de una superación de la tragedia.
Abstract
This work deals with the dyptich reason / emotions in two contempo-
rary productions, in which Antigone’s character has a prominent role: the
novel Le quatrième mur by Sorj Chalandon and the film La promesse by
the Dardenne brothers. From this analysis, we propose a dialogue with
the classical interpretations that Hegel and Kierkegaard suggested to the
Sophoclean tragedy, a dialogue from which several questions arise (free-
dom, the boundaries of Pietas), and which allows us to consider the pos-
sibility of overcoming tragedy.
314 Abstracts
Title
The Inner Compass: Myth, Emotion and Trauma in The Neverending Story
Abstract
The protagonist of Michael Ende’s novel The Neverending Story,
Bastian, sets forth on a journey into the world of his own imagination out
of a desperate need for a spiritual awakening. The magical amulet Auryn
functions as an inner compass in the world of the story, a paradoxical guide
that erases his memory but it is also the place where memory is regained.
With the aid of psychotherapist Bessel van der Kolk and critic Hamida
Bosmajian, this article explores Bastian’s emotions and his mythical jour-
ney in terms of a response to trauma and a displacement of grief.
Résumé
Le protagoniste du roman de Michael Ende, L’Histoire sans fin, est un
enfant nommé Bastian qui entre dans le monde de sa propre imagination
afin de trouver sa vraie volonté. L’amulette Auryn est une boussole du
monde imaginaire: elle lui montre la voie. C’est un guide paradoxal parce
qu’elle lui efface la mémoire et en même temps c’est aussi l’endroit où il
peut retrouver ses souvenirs. Avec la contribution des idées du psychothéra-
peute Bessel van der Kolk et du critique Hamida Bosmajian, on cherchera à
démontrer que le voyage de Bastian dans ses émotions peut être considéré
comme une véritable réponse au traumatisme et comme un déplacement de
la douleur.
Myth and Emotions 315
Title
Reaching beyond Reality: The Emotional Valence of Myth
Abstract
A myth is often identified with its narrative: it is regarded as a particular
kind of story. Even in this simplistic understanding, it is accepted that some
aspect of the story distinguishes the mythic from other kinds of narrative.
That aspect, which involves the supernatural in one guise or another, has the
capacity to take readers of the story beyond the reach of mundane reality.
Yet narrative is only one vehicle for the expression of the raw material of the
myth. Paintings, which carry more of a spatial than a temporal charge, have
the power to arrest in their depiction of a mythic scene.
This Chapter explores the emotional valence of one particular myth, that
of Ariadne, who was abandoned by Theseus, and considers its reinterpreta-
tion by two realist novelists and one metaphysical painter of the twentieth
century. The representation of the mythological thread (in the written word)
and the mythological moment (in the visual arts) is subjected to analysis.
The main focus is on The King Must Die by Mary Renault and Ariadne by
June Rachuy Brindel. The Chapter concludes with a short discussion of
Ariadne in the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico.
Resumen
Un mito a menudo se identifica con su narración: se considera como un
tipo particular de historia. Incluso desde esa perspectiva simplista, se acepta
que algún aspecto de la historia distingue lo mítico de otros tipos de narra-
tiva. Ese aspecto, que implica lo sobrenatural de una u otra forma, tiene la
capacidad de llevar a los lectores de la historia más allá del alcance de la
realidad mundana. Sin embargo, la narrativa es solo un vehículo para la ex-
presión de la materia prima del mito. La pintura, con más carga espacial que
temporal, tiene el poder de detener en su representación una escena mítica.
Este capítulo explora el significado emocional de un mito en concreto,
el de Ariadna, abandonada por Teseo, y considera la reinterpretación llevada
a cabo por dos novelistas realistas y un pintor metafísico del siglo xx. En
él se analizan tanto la representación del hilo argumental mitológico (en la
palabra escrita) como el momento mitológico (en las artes visuales), cen-
trándose en The King Must Die de Mary Renault y Ariadne de June Rachuy
Brindel. El capítulo concluye con una breve discusión sobre la representa-
ción de Ariadna en las pinturas de Giorgio de Chirico.
316 Abstracts
Título
Miseria y grandeza de Ulises en Naissance de l’Odyssée de Jean Giono
Resumen
El Ulises de Jean Giono en Naissance de l’Odyssée (1930) se presen-
ta no solo como versátil y astuto según las características homéricas, sino
también como emocionalmente inestable y mentiroso compulsivo. En esta
curiosa recreación de La Odisea con la que arranca la obra de Giono, de-
terminadas emociones adquieren relevancia en la dinámica actancial del
personaje y su efecto de lectura. El presente trabajo estudia cómo, en esta
refiguración del texto homérico, el mito literario de Ulises, ironizado y poe-
tizado, adquiere un talante más humano e, incluso, anti-heroico. El desarro-
llo narrativo realizado en clave emocional pone de relieve la vulnerabilidad
de un héroe venido a menos que, paradójicamente, refuerza su gloria gracias
al poder de una enorme capacidad fabuladora.
Abstract
In Jean Giono’s Naissance de l’Odyssée (1930), Ulysses appears not
only as a sly and versatile character like in the Homeric work, but also as an
emotionally unstable and compulsive liar character. In this amazing version
of the Odyssey, in fact Jean Giono’s first novel, some negative emotions of
Ulysses become relevant to the narrative dynamics and reading effect. The
aim of this article is to show how Ulysses’ literary myth suffers an ironic
and poetic process while living a very normal and non-heroic human life.
The narrative development is determined by emotional factors, which show
Ulysses’ vulnerability as a degraded hero who, paradoxically, reinforces his
glory thanks to his imaginative and fiction ability.
Myth and Emotions 317
Título
Black Mirror (“Ahora mismo vuelvo”): melancolía, simulacro y el fracaso
de Prometeo en el contexto de las redes sociales
Resumen
“Ahora mismo vuelvo”, capítulo perteneciente a la segunda temporada
de Black Mirror, supone una actualización de los mitemas presentes en re-
latos como el de Pigmalión o Prometeo, pero adaptados al tiempo presente
y, especialmente, a los cambios sociológicos que traen consigo las redes so-
ciales. A través de una ciencia ficción plausible y con una trama vertebrada
por las emociones como impulsadoras no racionales del comportamiento
humano, Charlie Brooker rescata el tema del hombre artificial para debatir
sobre la esencialidad humana y advertir de los peligros inminentes de las
nuevas tecnologías y, especialmente, de su uso.
Abstract
“Be right back”, an episode belonging to the second season of Black
Mirror, is an update of the mythemes present in stories such as Pygmalion
or Prometheus, although it is adapted to the present time and, specifically, to
the sociological changes that social networks bring along. By using a plau-
sible science fiction and with a storyline built up with emotions as irrational
boosters of human behaviour, Charlie Brooker revives the theme of the un-
natural man in order to debate on human essentiality and to warn about the
imminent dangers of new technologies and, more specifically, about how it
is used.
318 Abstracts
Título
El dolor de la luna: el mito griego de la existencia humana según Karl
Kerényi
Resumen
Este capítulo analiza sintéticamente la elaboración del carácter emotivo
del mito que Karl Kerényi realiza a través de su estudio de las figuras luna-
res oscuras de Prometeo y Níobe, que presenta como mitologemas griegos
de la existencia humana. Se expone así un modelo antropológico en el que
la experiencia del mundo no se fragmenta según las categorías del pensa-
miento moderno y en el que la dimensión emocional está integrada en lo
mítico de forma máximamente significativa. Este planteamiento contribuye
a dar razón de la capacidad conmovedora del mito desde la antigüedad hasta
el momento presente.
Abstract
This Chapter analyses Karl Kerényi’s elaboration of the emotive charac-
ter of the myth through his study of the dark lunar figures of Prometheus and
Niobe as Greek mythologemes of human existence. This is done in order
to disclose an anthropological model in which the experience of the world
is not fragmented according to the categories of modern thought, and in
which the emotional dimension is integrated into the myth in a profoundly
meaningful way. Thus, we hope to account for the moving power held by
the myth from ancient times to the present.
Myth and Emotions 319
Titre
Que reste-t-il de la fureur de Médée?
Résumé
Le mythe de Médée a connu une postérité importante au théâtre de la
Renaissance au théâtre moderne et contemporain et, plus près de nous, deux
dramaturges dont les pièces ont été montées à deux ans d’intervalle l’une
de l’autre: Dea Loher Manhattan Medea (1999) et Tom Lanoye Mamma
Medea (2001). Une analyse hypertextuelle genettienne montre que la pièce
de Loher est une transposition modernisante où Médée et Jason sont deux
immigrés clandestins qui se retrouvent dans l’underground new-yorkais,
tandis que la pièce de Lanoye est plutôt un travestissement burlesque où la
langue est au cœur de la réécriture: les barbares parlent en vers et les Grecs
leur répondent dans une langue moderne et négligée. Cependant, ces deux
différentes variations du mythe se focalisent toutes deux, par transformation
de motifs, sur la thématique (déjà présente chez Euripide) de l’immigra-
tion (pour Loher), et de l’expérience de l’altérité et de l’étrangéité (pour
Lanoye). Médée devient ainsi une figure de la transculturalité, une réfugiée.
La question qui se pose ainsi est celle de l’infini renouvellement du mythe.
Jusqu’où la combinatoire des mythèmes d’une réécriture peut-elle pousser
une histoire sans s’écarter définitivement du mythe qui en constitue la base?
Abstract
The myth of Medea has had an important posterity in Renaissance or
modern and contemporary drama, and, closer to us, two playwrights who
had their work shown at only two years of interval: Dea Loher’s Manhattan
Medea (1999) and Tom Lanoye’s Mamma Medea (2001). A hypertextual
analysis, based on Genette, will show that Loher’s play is a modernization
of the myth, where Medea and Jason are two illegal immigrants living in the
New Yorker underground, whereas Lanoye’s play is a burlesque travesty,
where the variation happens on a linguistic level: the barbarians speak in
verse and the Greeks answer in a modern, neglected slang. However, both
rewritings of the myth focus, through transformation of motives, on the
thematic (already present in Euripides’ drama) of immigration (in Loher’s
case) and experience of alterity and strangeness (in Lanoye’s case). Medea
is thus a figure of transculturality, a refugee. The question one can ask is the
one about the eternal renewal of myth. How far can a retelling go before it
deviates from the myth which it wants to rewrite?
320 Abstracts
Título
La lógica emocional y la tensión entre la ciencia y el mito
Resumen
La rápida evolución tecnológica de las últimas décadas ha propiciado
que la ciencia ponga ante nuestros ojos un panorama muy positivo del fu-
turo que confía en poder alcanzar. Sin embargo, la ciencia ficción, la mito-
logía contemporánea, parece más bien alertarnos de que nos encaminamos
hacia tiempos difíciles y oscuros. El punto de tensión entre ambos tipos
de narrativas es la lógica emocional, ausente en la ciencia y esencial en el
mito. El artículo ejemplifica esta tensión con tres relatos de ciencia ficción
española contemporánea.
Abstract
The fast technological evolution of the last decades has led science to
put before our eyes a very positive picture of the future that it hopes to
achieve. However, science fiction, as the contemporary mythology, seems
to warn us that we are moving toward difficult and dark times. The point
of tension between both types of narratives is the emotional logic, absent in
science and essential in myth. The article exemplifies this tension with three
stories of contemporary Spanish science fiction.
Myth and Emotions 321
Título
Mito, género y emociones: Medea, Clitemnestra y Casandra en la obra
dramática de Diana M. de Paco Serrano
Resumen
Este trabajo se centra en dos dramas de Diana M. de Paco Serrano,
Polifonía y Casandra. En estas obras, de Paco vuelve al mundo antiguo
de Grecia y permite que Medea, Clitemnestra y Casandra deconstruyan el
poder de la lógica masculina racional; la misma lógica que había formado
la base del tratamiento opresivo de ellas en las versiones griegas clásicas de
los mitos. Las heroínas se convertirán en las autoras de nuevas versiones de
sus mitos en los que ya no son figuras débiles, manipuladas por sus emocio-
nes, sino mujeres fuertes que usan sus emociones como arma en su lucha
desmitificadora.
Abstract
This work focuses on two plays by Diana M. de Paco Serrano, Polifonía
and Casandra. In them, de Paco returns to the ancient Greek world and
allows Medea, Clytemnestra, and Cassandra to deconstruct the power of
rational masculine logic, the very logic that had formed the basis of their
oppressive treatment in the ancient Greek versions of the myths. These
heroines will become the authors of new versions of these myths in which
they are no longer weak figures, manipulated by emotion, but rather strong
women who use their emotions as weapons in their fight to control their
own stories.
322 Abstracts
Maria do Rosário Girão Ribeiro dos Santos and Manuel José Silva,
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
Titre
L’importance d’être et de paraître (Don) Sébastien…
Résumé
Placé là où se croisent le sentiment de la “saudade” et du Quint-Empire,
D. Sebastião s’affirme comme le mythe littéraire portugais, caractérisé par
un incessant flux d’émotions inhérent aux thèmes Désiré / Caché et cristallisé
dans une vaste production iconico-verbale dans laquelle se détachent Le
Conquérant d’Almeida Faria (1990) et Le Monastère d’Agustina Bessa-
Luís (1980). D’un côté, nous assistons à la désacralisation parodique du
mythe, d’un autre, à la reconstitution de la personnalité du Roi Moine, fils
des larmes, prisonnier de la peur et victime du rêve fou.
Resumen
Cruzándose con el sentimiento de la “saudade” y del Quinto Imperio,
D. Sebastião se afirma como el mito literario portugués, caracterizado por
un incesante flujo emotivo inherente a los temas Deseado / Encubierto, y
cristalizado en una extensa producción icónico-verbal, en la que destacan
O Conquistador de Almeida Faria (1990) y O Mosteiro de Agustina Bessa-
Luís (1980). Por un lado, asistimos a la desacralización paródica del mito;
por otro, a la reconstitución de la personalidad del Rey Monje, hijo de las
lágrimas, prisionero del miedo y víctima del sueño insano.
Myth and Emotions 323
Título
Epopeyas postmodernas y topografías infernales sin salida
Resumen
Antes y después de Dante, abundan las obras que describen viajes al
más allá. Se destacan aquí las peripecias de Patrick Bateman en American
Psycho (1991), analizadas como acercamiento al infierno entre lo medieval
y lo postmoderno. Sus movimientos se producen en direcciones opuestas:
hacia lo inhumano de la masculinidad hegemónica, en American Psycho, y
hacia lo divino, en Dante. La seguridad epistemológica mantiene firme al
peregrino, mientras que la búsqueda del éxito social no le permite al psi-
cópata reencontrarse con su alma. La epifanía de Dante se transforma en
un viaje sin salida por la ausencia de una Beatrice en una topografía post
mortem.
Abstract
Before and after Dante, many works have described journeys to the
Other World. In this article, Patrick Bateman’s vicissitudes in American
Psycho (1991) are analysed as a journey to hell, between the medieval and
the postmodern. Their movements are in opposite directions: towards an
inhuman ideal of masculinity, in American Psycho, and towards divinity, in
the case of Dante. Epistemological security guides the pilgrim along righ-
teousness, whereas the search for social success does not allow the psycho-
path to connect with his soul. Dante’s epiphany becomes a dead end because
Beatrice is missing in the post-mortem topography.
324 Abstracts
Título
Towards a Mythcriticism of Emotions / Hacia una mitocrítica de las
emociones
Resumen
La identidad del individuo presenta siempre una faceta social: su
pertenencia a un grupo con el que comparte deseos, miedos y creencias.
Precisamente ahí también incide el mito, siempre de acuerdo con una con-
ciencia de identidad relacionada con el origen o con el destino absolutos del
individuo o la sociedad. El mito propone soluciones particulares y colecti-
vas (la compasión, el amor, la paz) a los problemas individuales y sociales
(la ira, la violencia, el sufrimiento). Conforma de este modo esferas públi-
cas de cultura en las que la lógica emocional va por delante de otros modos
de comprensión del mundo, particularmente del pensamiento racional.
Abstract
The identity of the individual always implies a social aspect: its belong-
ing to a group with which it shares desires, fears and beliefs. This is precise-
ly where myth operates, always in accordance with a conscience of identity
related to absolute origins and destinies of the individual or of society. Myth
proposes particular and collective solutions (compassion, love, peace) to
individual or social problems (anger, violence, suffering). In this way, it
shapes public spheres of culture where emotional logic precedes other ways
of comprehension of the world, namely rational thought.
Myth and Emotions 325
Título
A vueltas con el orden. Mito y modernidad entre la felicidad y el síntoma
Resumen
La reactivación moderniste del mito griego se produjo a menudo en tér-
minos clásicos y luminosos, a lo que se alude aquí como felicidad, pero
también de atavismo y desenfreno, como síntoma. A partir de revistas vin-
culadas al arte se abordan estas diversas asimilaciones destacando lo griego
y / o clásico en su conjunto como objeto mítico per se, como mitema ca-
racterístico de entreguerras. A la luz de dicho mitema han de analizarse las
obras explícita o implícitamente mitológicas y la emoción, fuera luminosa o
sombría, que aportaron a su época.
Abstract
The modernist revival of the Greek myth often occurred in classical and
luminous terms, what is here referred to as happiness, but also in terms of
atavism and debauchery, as a symptom. Drawing from journals linked to art,
these various assimilations are dealt with, emphasizing the Greek and / or
classical aspect as a whole, as a mythical object by itself, as a characteristic
mytheme in the inter-wars period. In the light of that my theme, we will ana-
lyze the explicitly or implicitly mythological works and emotions (whether
luminous or gloomy) they provided their era.
326 Abstracts
Título
La reescritura mítica en Incendies (2003), de Wajdi Mouawad: Edipo en el
contexto de la guerra
Resumen
En Incendies (2003), Wajdi Mouawad lleva a cabo una reescritura del
mito de Edipo centrada en la cuestión de la identidad: como en la tragedia
sofoclea, la identidad es puesta en cuestión por una investigación sobre el
pasado que deriva en trauma. En esta actualización, la trama sufre múltiples
desdoblamientos (de la figura edípica y los tiempos) que establecen una
relación de retroalimentación con el contexto bélico al que es trasladada.
Este artículo pretende analizar cómo estas modificaciones recrudecen la di-
mensión emocional del mito.
Abstract
In Incendies (2003), Wajdi Mouawad provides an identity-focused re-
writing of the Oedipal myth. As in Sophocles’ tragedy, identity is called into
question through a search on the past that drifts into trauma. In this new
version, both the Oedipal figure and the time setting are multiply unfolded,
thus establishing a feedback relationship to the war context where the plot
is placed. The aim of this article is to analyze how these alterations intensify
the emotional dimension of the myth.
Myth and Emotions 327
Título
Emociones ambivalentes: el Ugolino dantesco de Borges
Resumen
En “El falso problema de Ugolino”, uno de los Nueve ensayos dantes-
cos, Borges se detiene en un verso del penúltimo canto del Infierno acerca
del canibalismo de Ugolino della Gherardesca que, condenado a morir de
hambre junto a sus hijos, posiblemente acabó devorando sus cadáveres. En
este trabajo nos ha interesado examinar este motivo del periplo mítico, en
el que la experiencia del horror se inserta como elemento central, no tanto
desde el punto de vista del objeto mimético (en tanto que representación
de hechos terroríficos u horribles), sino desde el punto de vista de las capa-
cidades de emoción y empatía (el pathos de la comprensión), que pueden
provocar en el receptor. Desplazando los puntos de vista habituales, en la
interpretación que propone Borges lo horrible o lo horroroso no se juzgan
según criterios morales o de racionalidad interpretativa, sino en función de
su eficacia poética, en el modo en que afectan convenientemente a la emoti-
vidad del receptor y suscitan una respuesta estética y / o ética.
Abstract
In “El falso problema de Ugolino”, one of the Nueve ensayos dantes-
cos, Borges focuses on a verse of Inferno’s penultimate chant concerning
Ugolino della Gherardesca’s cannibalism who, condemned to die of hunger
along with his children, possibly would have devoured their corpses. This
Chapter examines this figure in which the experience of horror is estab-
lished as a central element, not so much from the point of view of the mi-
metic object (as a terrifying and horrible representation of facts) but from
the viewpoint of the emotional and empathic capacities (the pathos of the
understanding) that they can trigger on the reader. Moving away from the
usual viewpoints, here the horrible or the horrific are not judged according
to moral criteria or interpretative rationality, but to their poetic efficacy,
taking into account the way they conveniently affect the reader’s emotive
nature and stir up an aesthetic and / or ethic response.
328 Abstracts
Título
¿Tienen las rusalki una vida sentimental?
Resumen
Las rusalki (plural de rusalka) son personajes femeninos sobrenatura-
les del folklore eslavo oriental. En los relatos protagonizados por ellas, las
emociones predominantes son el temor (por parte de los humanos) y el re-
sentimiento (por parte de las rusalki). Muy escasas son, en cambio, las his-
torias de amor entre las rusalki y los hombres. En este artículo estudiamos
algunas de esas historias, atestiguadas en el siglo xxi, y proponemos una
hipótesis interpretativa de la rareza con la que ese motivo se documenta en
las fuentes.
Abstract
Rusalki (plural of rusalka) are female supernatural beings of Eastern
Slavic folklore. In the narratives where they appear, the dominant emotions
are fear (from human beings towards the rusalki) and resentment (from the
rusalki towards human beings). Love stories between rusalki and human
beings are seldom attested. In this article we study some of those stories, re-
corded in the twenty-first century, and we propose a tentative interpretation
of the fact that love between a rusalka and a man is such a poorly attested
motif in our sources.
Myth and Emotions 329
Title
Weaving the Emotional Mitos within and without the Labyrinth: Politics of
Emotion in the Myth of Theseus and The Hunger Games
Abstract
In this article, I shall attempt to examine emotional appropriation and
manipulation within a political context as portrayed in the classical myth of
Theseus and the Labyrinth which, I propose, serves as a model for Suzanne
Collins’ trilogy, The Hunger Games (2008-2010). I shall engage in a com-
parative reading of the common ground these two narratives share through
the theories of Louis, Guy, and Foucault, arguing that Collins rewrites the
mythical Labyrinth, a symbol of political and divine power, as a panoptical
technological dispositive which functions as a televised arena of multilay-
ered interpellations and emotional manipulation. Moreover, I shall explore
how both Theseus and Katniss are placed in this labyrinthine structure of
power and how they appropriate the tools of sovereignty in order to ma-
nipulate emotions so as to overthrow it. In short, I shall attempt to read the
classic and the modern text through a common, contemporary theoretical
axis for underpinning the sense of continuity from past to present regarding
the issue of political manipulation of emotions.
Résumé
Dans ce texte, j’essaierai d’examiner l’appropriation émotionnelle et
la manipulation dans un contexte politique tel qu’il est représenté dans le
mythe classique de Thésée et le Labyrinthe lequel sert de modèle à la tri-
logie de Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games (2008-2010). Je m’engage-
rai dans une lecture comparative les champs communs que ces deux récits
partagent à travers des théories d’Althusser, Debord et Foucault, soutenant
que Collins réécrit le Labyrinthe mythique, un symbole de pouvoir divin et
politique, comme un dispositif panoptique et technologique, qui fonctionne
comme une arène télévisée d’interpellations à plusieurs niveaux et de mani-
pulations émotionnelles. De plus, je vais explorer la manière dont Thésée et
Katniss sont situés dans ce Labyrinthe, symbole de pouvoir, et comment ils
se sont appropriés les outils de la souveraineté afin de manipuler les émo-
tions, dans le but de la renverser. Bref, je tenterai d’étudier le texte classique
à travers un axe théorique commun, contemporain, pour éclairer les sens de
la continuité du passé au présent, concernant la question de la manipulation
politique des émotions.
330 Abstracts
Título
“This isn’t meat. This is man”: el miedo como componente emocional
constitutivo del mito del caníbal
Resumen
En este trabajo se analiza, desde un punto de vista mitocrítico, el dina-
mismo imaginario que produce el miedo, que se considera el componente
emocional fundamental del mito del caníbal. Se discute, a través del análisis
de un episodio de la serie televisiva Hannibal, la relación estructural entre
esta emoción y las relaciones sociales en el mundo contemporáneo.
Abstract
This article analyses, from the point of view of Mythcriticism, the im-
aginary dynamism produced by fear, which is considered the fundamental
emotional component of the myth of the cannibal. It is discussed, through
the analysis of an episode of the Hannibal television series, the structural
relationship between this emotion and the human relationships in the con-
temporary world.
Myth and Emotions 331
Titre
De la parodie comme modèle de lecture pour la mythocritique émotionnelle
Résumé
En quoi la réécriture parodique de mythes constitue-t-elle une parfaite
démonstration des liens intimes entre mythe et émotion? En d’autres termes,
comment la parodie peut-elle devenir un véritable modèle de lecture pour
la mythocritique émotionnelle? À travers l’analyse textuelle des Chaises
de Ionesco, de Fin de partie de Beckett et de Dos viejos pánicos de Piñera,
nous nous proposons de montrer que le détournement d’un mythe tel que
celui de Tristan et Yseult est, pour les dramaturges modernes, moins une
façon de détruire ce dernier ou de le remodeler à partir d’un quelconque
modèle de déficit émotionnel qu’un moyen d’exhiber son inhérente logique
émotionnelle et de réaffirmer ainsi la consubstantialité même de la structure
mythique et des émotions. Plus encore, si le procédé parodique et alexithy-
mique de ces pièces du vingtième siècle propose un modèle critique adéquat
pour étudier la relation combinatoire entre mythe et logique des émotions,
c’est parce qu’il met au jour la responsabilité du spectateur, les phénomènes
de transferts et en fin de compte la question finale et primordiale du choix
qui s’opère lors du processus de mythification.
Abstract
In what way is the parodic rewriting of myths a perfect demonstration of
the intimate connections between myth and emotion? In other words, how
can parody become a real reading model for the emotional critique of myths?
Through the textual analysis of Ionesco’s Chairs, Beckett’s Endgame and
Piñera’s Dos Viejos Pánicos, this article aims to show that, for Modern play-
wrights, the diversion of a myth such as the myth of Tristan and Yseult is
not so much a way of destroying it or remodelling it based on some model
of emotional deficit. Rather it is a way to exhibit its inherent emotional logic
and to reaffirm thus the very consubstantiality of the mythic structure and
emotions. Moreover, the reasons why the parodic and alexithymic method
of these 20th century plays offers an adequate critic model for the study of
the combinatory relation between myth and the logic of emotions is that it
reveals the responsibility of the audience, the phenomena of transference
and ultimately the final and primordial question of the choice that occurs in
the process of mythification.
332 Abstracts
Title
“We Are All Kids of E…”: Postmodern emotional manipulation in Caridad
Svich’s Retelling of Iphigenia at Aulis
Abstract
The aim of this article is to compare and contrast Euripides’ Iphigenia
at Aulis to Caridad Svich’s Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell
That Was Once her Heart (2005) in terms of exploring the emotional infra-
structure of the two heroines while they struggle to escape death. Svich’s
version relies heavily on the postmodern manipulation of the myth. The
play’s temporal fluidity is what highlights the protagonist’s emotional effort
to claim her body in a society that refuses to let her speak for herself. In this
light, ecstasy, from the Greek for “being placed outside”, is one of the most
important contributions that Svich made to the play as it suggests a state of
exaltation in which the self is transcended. Accordingly, our exploration can
be summarized in the following two questions: does this ecstatic heroism
enhance the relationship between myth and emotion in Svich’s rewriting of
Euripides’ tragedy? Is it sufficient to rescue Iphigenia from her imminent
death that underwrites the sad fate of thousands of Mexican girls today?
Résumé
L’objectif de ce travail est de comparer et de contraster l’Iphigénie en
Aulide d’Euripide avec Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That
Was Once her Heart (2005), par Caridad Svich, afin d’explorer l’infrastruc-
ture émotionnelle des deux héroïnes alors qu’elles luttent pour échapper
à la mort. La version de Svich repose fortement sur la manipulation post-
moderne du mythe. La fluidité temporelle de la pièce est ce qui fait ressortir
l’effort émotionnel de la protagoniste de revendiquer son corps dans une so-
ciété qui refuse de la laisser parler. À cet égard, l’extase, du Grec pour “être
placé à l’extérieur”, est l’une des plus importantes contributions que Svich
ait faites à la pièce puisqu’elle suggère un état d’exaltation dans lequel le
soi est transcendé. Par conséquent, notre étude peut se résumer par les deux
questions suivantes: est-ce l’héroïsme extasié qui rehausse la relation entre
le mythe et l’émotion dans la réécriture de la tragédie d’Euripide par Svich?
Est-ce suffisant de sauver Iphigénie de sa mort imminente pour sceller le
triste destin de milliers de filles mexicaines aujourd’hui?
Myth and Emotions 333
Titre
Médée en mal de bourreau
Résumé
Cette étude tente de relever les principaux infléchissements qu’a connus
l’adaptation du mythe de Médée sous la plume de Jean Anouilh dans sa
“pièce noire” (1946). Loin de triompher, Médée y devient victime volontaire
de sa démesure et de son refus de l’éthique médiocre et “bourgeoise”
fondée sur l’absence d’une passion véritablement engagée. Notre analyse
nous permet d’avancer que la réécriture d’Anouilh insère dans le mythe le
motif de l’impossible renaissance, ce qui amène l’héroïne non seulement
au régicide et à l’infanticide (éléments qu’on est en droit d’attendre) mais
aussi au suicide. Médée, qui ne voit son passé qu’à travers son amour, exclut
toute idée de continuité et démolit tout ce qui la lie à Jason déloyal, Anouilh
étant à son tour déloyal vis-à-vis de la mémoire culturelle. Or, l’indignation
que pourrait ressentir le lecteur moderne sert ici d’un moteur de réflexion.
Tout irritante qu’elle soit, elle soulève la question de la valeur prétendument
universelle et atemporelle qu’on assigne aux mythes qui, grâce à la diversité
de leurs significations, ne cessent de nourrir l’imaginaire de l’Occident.
Abstract
In this Chapter, we aim to point out the main changes that Jean Anouilh
imposed on the myth related to Medea as it appears in his “pièce noire”
written in 1946. His adaptation of the original subject matter might seem
quite disturbing to anyone familiar with the classical versions of the myth.
Far from being victorious, Medea becomes a victim. Her refusal to adapt
to mediocre and “bourgeois” values results in her solemn call for indepen-
dence. Thus, she does not think, unlike Jason, that it could be possible to
cut off the past as if it never occurred. That’s why we interpret this play as
an actualization of the myth of impossible rebirth. Medea’s treatment of
time radically differs from Jason’s and the only possible outcome of the
tragedy is hence Medea’s suicide. We clearly see that Anouilh is not loyal
to the cultural memory. His play might cause some indignation but it raises
questions as to universal and timeless values of the myth as they continue
to inform our present.
334 Abstracts
Título
Tragedia griega y devenir mujer en los Delirios de Antígona
Resumen
El propósito de este artículo es revalidar la vigencia de la obra literaria
de María Zambrano. Así mismo se analiza la influencia del punto de vista
femenino de la autora en su creación, y se destaca como paradigma de esta
el tratamiento que ha dado a la figura clásica de Antígona en su obra La
tumba de Antígona. La “vida no vivida” representada por Antígona sirve a
Zambrano para reabrir una puerta que había quedado sellada tras el cruel
final de la tragedia de Sófocles. De este modo, la autora acertaría a reescribir
el perfil de la heroína trágica, confiriéndole una dimensión subversiva en
relación con la historia del pensamiento patriarcal. Por último, se estudia
cómo María Zambrano en esta obra abandona el género del ensayo y se
adentra en la ficción dramática, pues necesita el lenguaje literario (“la razón
poética”) para expresar su pensamiento con más fuerza.
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to revalidate the relevance of Maria
Zambrano’s literary work. At the same time, it analyses the influence of the
feminine point of view in her creation. To reach this goal, it is necessary
to underline as a paradigm the treatment that she has given to Antigone’s
figure. Thus, Zambrano reopens a door that had remained sealed with the
cruel end of Sophocles’ tragedy. She also redefines this tragic female fig-
ure, giving a subversive dimension to her in connection with the history of
patriarchal thought. Likewise, it points to the fact that Zambrano leaves the
essay to approach literary fiction, because she needs literary language, “the
poetical reason”, to express her thinking.
Myth and Emotions 335
Titre
Mytho-pathologie: la dramaturgie des affects. Controverses
Résumé
L’imagination mythique serait-elle avant tout un discours des affects
et les passions, renversant ainsi l’interprétation intellectualiste qui privilé-
gie sens et structure des récits? La narration mythique doit-elle avant tout
se laisser déchiffrer dans son organisation, son effectivité et sa réception,
à partir des polarités affectives et émotionnelles qu’elle développe? Bref
quelle est la place des affects (émotions, sentiments, passions) dans la my-
thologie et la mythographie?
Afin de dégager une approche synthétique qui ne sacrifie ni le formel
ni l’émotionnel, on reviendra sur l’œuvre de Walter Otto, les apports de
Kerényi et Jung, sur leur mise en relation du pathos et du sens, sur les fonc-
tions initiatiques et les effets de métamorphose psychique du mythe; avant
de préciser l’importance du processus d’ambivalence pathétique (négatif-
positif). On proposera enfin d’illustrer le modèle par les mythes cosmolo-
giques (affects des 4 éléments) et par le mythe historique de Napoléon.
Abstract
Is mythical imagination, above all, a speech about affections and pas-
sions? This would turn around the intellectualistic interpretation that gives
priority to the meaning and the structure of the narratives. Must mythical
narrative allow to be deciphered in its organisation, its effectiveness, and its
reception, on the basis of its affective and emotional polarities? To sum up,
what is the place of affections (emotions, feelings, passions) in mythology
and mythography?
In order to bring out a synthetic approach that does not sacrifice either
the formal factor or the emotional one, we shall discuss again Walter Otto’s
work, contributions by Kerényi and Jung to establish a relationship between
pathos and meaning, the initiatory functions of myth, and its ability for
causing psychic metamorphoses. Then we shall precise the importance of
the process of ambivalence (negative-positive character) of the pathos. Last,
we shall suggest to illustrate the model through cosmological myths (the af-
fections of the four elements) and through the historical myth of Napoleon.
336 Abstracts
Title
Orpheus and Eurydice rewritten, in works by Hélène Cixous and Claude
Simon
Abstract
Hélène Cixous and Claude Simon, two of the most influential contem-
porary French writers, use mythical models and archetypes extensively.
They are known for their analogical thinking, often linked to symbolic and
even mystical dimensions in literature, which defines their complex and
intriguing writing. They both inscribe in their works the mythical figures
of Orpheus and his counterpart Eurydice. The epic proportions of Orpheus’
journey, especially with the irremediable loss of Eurydice in the traditional
legend, triggers a series of strong emotions such as sadness and resentment,
anger and frustration against the ruling forces of the universe. Cixous and
Simon have considerably redesigned both myths, especially the paradigm of
Eurydice. In the works of both authors, a new type of emotions modifies the
dimensions of the mythical models borrowed from the Antiquity.
Résumé
Hélène Cixous et Claude Simon, deux grands noms de la littérature
française contemporaine, utilisent amplement les mythes et les archétypes.
Leur écriture complexe, considérée par moments comme hermétique, se
distingue par la pensée analogique, souvent le signe d’une approche sym-
bolique et même mystique en littérature. Dans plusieurs de leurs œuvres, ils
utilisent tous les deux le mythe d’Orphée et de sa conjointe Eurydice. Les
dimensions épiques du voyage d’Orphée, particulièrement par rapport à la
perte irrémédiable d’Eurydice dans la légende traditionnelle, provoquent
une série d’émotions fortes, à savoir la tristesse et la rancune, la colère et
la frustration contre les forces qui régissent l’univers. Cixous et Simon ont
considérablement modifié les deux mythes, en particulier le paradigme
d’Eurydice. Chez les deux auteurs, de nouvelles émotions modifient les
données mythiques empruntées à l’Antiquité.
Index
Myth and Emotions 339
Brooker, Charlton 19n, 44n, 301, 307, Cocteau, Jean 19, 21, 22, 23, 23n, 24,
317 44, 46, 47, 48, 48n, 49, 212, 214,
Black Mirror (“Be right back”) 19n, 215
44n, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 317 Le Sang d’un poète 21, 22, 23, 46,
Brunius, Jacques Bernard 213 47, 48
The Voyage aux Cyclades 213 Orphée 23n, 48n
Buñuel, Luis 267 Collins, Suzanne 233, 235, 236, 237,
Robinson Crusoe 267 238, 239, 329
Cadmus 302 The Hunger Games/Los juegos del
Calypso 179n hambre 233, 235, 239, 329
Camus, Albert 84, 85 Corneille, Pierre 241, 253, 255
El mito de Sísifo 85 Creon 98, 99n, 111, 128, 227, 243, 244,
L’Étranger 84 245, 253, 254, 255
Cannibal, as a myth 267, 268, 269, Creusa 111, 243, 244, 245, 247, 254,
270, 271, 272, 276, 327, 330 255, 256
Čapek, Karel 303 Cronus 269, 270
r.u.r. 303 Daedalus 140, 141, 142, 233, 235, 236,
Cardona, René Jr. 267 302
Robinson Crusoe 267 Dalí, Salvador 174
Caron, Antoine 219 Muchacha en la ventana 174
Massacres d’une proscription Dardenne, Jean-Pierre & Luc 97, 99,
romaine 219 99n, 100, 101, 105, 313
Cassandra 107, 109, 112, 113, 114, La promesse 97, 99, 313
321 El hijo 101
Catullus, Gaius Valerius 135, 136, 137, El niño 101
141, 142 El niño de la bicicleta 101
“The Marriage of Peleus and El silencio de Lorna 101
Thetis”/“Poem 64” 135 Dos días y una noche 101
Cervantes, Miguel de De Léry, Jean 269, 270
Don Quijote/Don Quixote 22, 47 Histoire d’un voyage fait en la terre
Chalandon, Sorj 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, du Brésil 269
313 De Paco, Diana M. 107, 108, 109, 111,
Le Quatrième mur 97, 101, 313 112, 113, 114, 321
Chirico, Giorgio de 136, 142, 214, 315 Lucía 107
Circe 177, 178, 179, 182 Polifonía 107, 108, 109, 111, 112,
Cixous, Hélène 199, 200, 201, 203, 321
204, 205, 206, 336 El canto póstumo de Orfeo 107
Homère est morte… 201, 203, 204, Casandra 107, 109, 112, 114, 321
206 Defoe, Daniel 267
Clytemnestra 15, 39, 107, 108, 109, Robinson Crusoe 267
110, 110n, 111, 112, 113, 114, 321 Demeter 66, 201, 204
Myth and Emotions 341
Despiau, Charles 211, 212, 214, 215 Fifth Empire, as a myth 190, 322
Eve 211 Fo, Dario 241
Adolescente 211, 212 Froschauer, Johan 269
Assia 215 Amerikaner 269
Apollon 214, 215 Fuller, Bryan 271
Diana 72 Hannibal 271, 276
Dick, Philip K. 83, 203 Gaia 269
¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas Galatea 303
eléctricas? 83, 203 Ganymede 150n
Dionysus 221 Gaudé, Laurent 241
Dom Sebastian 194, 195, 196, 196n, Médée Kali 241
189, 190, 190n, 191, 192, 193, 322 Gilgamesh 84
Don Juan 14, 16, 38, 41, 192 Giono, Jean 177, 178, 178n, 179, 180,
Dracula 270 181, 181n, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186,
Dragon of Cadmus 244 316
Earth 158, 201, 239 Naissance de l’Odyssée 177, 178,
Ellis, Bret Easton 279, 280, 282, 283, 179, 183n, 186, 316
284, 286, 287 Colline 178
American Psycho 279, 280, 281, Un de Beaumugnes 178
282, 286, 286n, 287, 288, 323 Regain 178
Elpenor 177 Giraudoux, Jean 15, 39, 40, 177
Ende, Michael 157, 158, 159, 160, 163, La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu
314 15, 39, 177
The Neverending Story 157, 158, Elpénor 177
159, 161, 163, 314 Gluck, Christoph Willibald 201, 202,
Epimetheus 303, 307 203, 204
Eumaeus 180 Orfeo 201, 202
Eumenides 4, 28 Goddess of Corn 77
Euripides 5, 14, 29, 39, 96, 107, 112, Golem 303
117, 118, 122, 123, 124, 242, 243, Goya, Francisco de 269
244, 247, 319, 332 Grau, Jacinto 304
Iphigenia at Aulis 117, 332 El señor de Pigmalión 304
Las fenicias 97 Green Horse 77
Las troyanas 112 Grillparzer, Franz 241, 246
Iphigenia in Tauris/Ifigenia entre Das goldene Vließ 241
los tauros 5, 9, 14, 29, 39, 40 Hades 11, 23n, 35, 48n, 143, 214
Eurydice 3, 4, 23n, 28, 48n, 98, 199, Harris, Thomas 270
200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 336 El silencio de los corderos 270
Eximeno, Santiago 86, 87, 88 Red Dragon 270
Días de otoño 86 Hannibal 270
Faun 219 Hannibal Rising 270
342 Index
Hawking, Stephen 82, 82n Jason 108, 111, 112, 242, 243, 244,
Science of the Future 82 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 252, 253,
Hecuba 112, 113 254, 255, 256, 258, 319, 333
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich 128 Jocasta 99n, 226, 228, 231
Helen of Troy 14, 15, 16, 38, 40, 113, Jewison, Norman 16, 17, 41, 42
114 Jesucristo Superstar 16, 41
Hemon 98 Jonze, Spike 19n, 44n
Hephaestus 302 Her 19n, 44
Hera 15, 40, 64n, 66 Joyce, James 177
Hermes 56, 158, 178, 179, 203 Ulysses 177
Hero of Alexandria 44 Jung, Carl Gustav 55, 61n, 76, 77, 138,
Automata/Autómata 44 148, 149, 150, 152, 154, 158
Hesiod 10, 11, 12, 13, 35, 36, 38, 269 Jupiter 11, 36
Works and days/Los trabajos y los Kant, Immnauel 56
días 10, 11, 13, 35, 36, 38 Katniss 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 329
Hesse, Hermann 61n Kazantzakis, Nikos 79
Hippolytus 108, 253 Kerényi, Karl 55, 61, 62, 63, 63n, 64,
Hydrus 3, 28 64n, 65, 65n, 66, 67
Hoffmann, E. T. A. 19, 44, 306 Kierkegaard, Søren 100, 102, 103, 128,
El hombre de arena/Der Sandmann/ 313
The sandman 19, 44, 306 Knossos 135, 136, 139, 141
Homer 23n, 48n, 135, 177, 179, 180, Kokoschka, Oskar 304
184, 201 Krishna 74
Odisea 23n, 48n, 86, 150, 177, 178, Kripke, Eric
179, 180, 181, 186, 316 Sobrenatural 67n
Huxley, Aldous 83 Labyrinth 135, 136, 139, 140, 141,
Un mundo feliz 83 142, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 329
Icarus 81, 140 Laius 225
Ionesco, Eugène 167, 168, 170, 171, Landolfi, Tommaso 304
172, 173, 174, 175, 331 La esposa de Gógol 304
Chaises/Chairs 167, 168, 169, 171, Lang, Fritz 304
174, 175, 331 Metrópolis 304
Iphigenia 5, 6, 15, 29, 30, 39, 109, 110, Lanoye, Tom 241, 242, 244, 245, 246,
117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 247, 249, 319
124, 332 Mamma Medea 241, 242, 244, 245,
Ishiguro, Kazuo 83 247, 248, 319
Nunca me abandones 83 Laocoön 57, 264
Ithaca 149, 150, 177, 178, 179, 180, Lear, King 14, 39
181, 182, 183, 186, 311 Loher, Dea 241, 242, 243, 244, 247,
Jahnn, Hans Henny 241 248, 249, 319
Medea 241 Manhattan Medea 241, 242, 243,
319
Myth and Emotions 343
Svich, Caridad 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, Vincent, Sam and Jonathan Blackley
122, 123, 124, 332 19n, 44n
Iphigenia Crash Land Falls... 47, Humans 19n, 44n
332 Virgil 3, 4, 28, 205, 280, 282
Tabori, George 241, 242 Georgics/Geórgicas 3, 4, 28
M: Nach Euripides 241 Wachowskis, The 19n, 44n
Takeuchi, Naoko 67n The Matrix Revolution 19n, 44n
Sailor Moon 67n Willing, Nick 241n
Tantalus 4, 28 Jason and the Argonauts 241n
Telemachus 108, 180, 181, 181n, 183, Wittgenstein, Ludwig 73
183n Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 73
Tenarus 4, 28 Wolf, Christa 241
Theseus 108, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, Medea Stimmen 241
141, 142, 217, 218, 233, 234, 235, Yin & Yang 77
236, 237, 238, 239, 305, 315, 329 Zambrano, María 125, 126, 127, 128,
Thomas Aquinas 71, 282 129, 130, 131, 132, 334
Thucydides 234 La tumba de Antígona 129, 130,
Tiresias 128, 227 132, 334
Tolkien, J. R. R. 67n El delirio de Antígona 129, 131
El Silmarilion 67n Tres delirios 127, 129
Tristan and Iseult 167, 168, 170, 174, Diotima de Mantinea 129
175, 331 Delirio, esperanza y razón 129
Troy 11, 12, 15, 29, 35, 36, 40, 109, Delirio y destino 129
112, 113, 114, 178, 179, 183 Zeus 65, 140, 178, 179, 186, 234, 303
Ulysses 56, 108, 149, 150, 151, 177,
178, 179, 179n, 180, 181, 182, 183,
184, 185, 186, 193, 311, 316
Underworld 4, 20, 22, 24, 45, 158, 161,
163, 200, 205, 285, 292, 323
Uranus 179, 269
Vadzjanik 295, 296, 296n
Vampire, as a myth 270, 272n
Vázquez, José Ramón 88, 89
Neo Tokio Blues 88
Velázquez, Diego de 243, 244, 247
L’Infant Philippe Prosper 244
Venus 303
Vespucci, Amerigo 269
Mundus Novus 269
Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, Auguste 304
Eva futura 304
Myth and Emotions
The emotive nature of myth lays the foundation of the research proposed for this
trilingual volume. The book aims to provide a study, as wide and thorough as possible,
that brings guidelines and models capable of interpreting the mythical-emotional
phenomena. Its implementation will be of great help to understand an important
part of the writing and art of modernity and post-modernity, as well as cultures and
thought of our current society.
Mito y emociones
El carácter emotivo del mito fundamenta el marco de la investigación propuesta para
este volumen trilingüe. El libro ofrece un estudio, lo más amplio y exhaustivo posible,
que aporte pautas y modelos capaces de interpretar el fenómeno mítico-emocional.
Su puesta en práctica será de gran ayuda para comprender y ayudar a comprender
una buena parte de la escritura y el arte de la modernidad y la postmodernidad, así
como la cultura y el pensamiento de nuestra sociedad actual.
Mythe et émotions
Le caractère émotif du mythe constitue le cadre de la recherche proposée pour
ce volume trilingue. Ce livre offre une étude, la plus ample et exhaustive possible,
qui puisse établir des règles et des modèles capables d’interpréter le phénomène
mythico-émotionnel. Sa mise en pratique permettra de comprendre une bonne partie
de l’écriture et de l’art de la modernité et la postmodernité, ainsi que de la culture et
la pensée de notre société actuelle.
José Manuel Losada studied at the Sorbonne, Harvard, Montreal and Oxford
universities. He is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Complutense
University (Spain). Among his books, the Bibliography of the Myth of Don Juan (1997),
the Bibliographie critique de la littérature espagnole en France au xviie siècle (1999),
and Victor Hugo et l’Espagne (2014) have been highly acclaimed. Mito y mundo
contemporáneo received the 2011 Giovi International Research Award. He is Editor of
Amaltea. Journal of Mythcriticism, and President of Asteria. International Association
of Mythcriticism.
Antonella Lipscomb has a PhD in French from the University of Oxford and B.A. in
French and Italian from the University of Kent. She has been a Lecturer of French at
the University of Oxford, and a Lecturer of European Literature and Cinema at the
University Antonio de Nebrija. She is co-editor with Prof. José Manuel Losada of the
books Mito e interdisciplinariedad (2013) and Myths in Crisis. The Crisis of Myth (2015).