After reading "The Sociopsychological Analysis of Folktales" by J.L. Fischer I have a clearer understanding about myths and folktales in terms of what exactly they are, how they came about and for what purpose they were told. Something that really caught my attention was the statement regarding that in certain societies a myth might have held importance, while another society told it just for fun. This made me think about how biased myths were made to be in the first place, if some societies gave a myth importance- could it be because it taught something relevant to that particular community, or it was directed towards a specific audience. Fischer cleared up those thoughts, apparently "Myths may be more suitable for illuminating recent conditions." (242)
The subtitle "Myths and Dream" also caught my attention since I love psychology and always look into reading about dream interpretations. It was always thought that dreams influenced myths, but this "myth" turned out to be false because as the author stated there were many limits to people's dreams- like remembering partial information, or having a falsified meaning. The only time dreams were transcribed into myths was when the community underwent an experience.
This article was not only interesting but was capable of giving real insight that can be useful in life.
Great points Tammy. The dream part is also very interesting to me. I personally think myths can stem from dreams as well; I believe that a myth does not have to be so widespread, as Fischer suggests. A myth can exist even in a small group of people (and still give insight into this small group's values) and because of that, dreams can actually provide the basis for a myth. Regardless, myths continue to serve as important cautionary tales, as well representations of a group's particular set of values.
ReplyDeleteHeyy Tammy, I didnt really notice that dreams take interpretations while reading the article but it was interesting that you noticed that. I agree that parts of this article can be interesting but to me it was hard to interpret. But it was nice to read your thoughts on this article and your learnings.
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