Lewis and Myth 2024

 CS Lewis' The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe can be seen as both a children's story about good and evil, but for adults, it can also be read as a biblical allusion. Many characters seem to represent different biblical characters/themes. Edmund is the skeptic, and the folly of man, whereas Aslan can be seen as a Jesus figure, being this powerful god like being who dies and gets resurrected. I think Lewis' decision to make a children's story evoke such powerful themes is a bold, yet admirable one. By making the story mirror biblical themes, he can introduce children to the general concepts without overbearing them with the complexity that the actual bible has. It's also simply a fun story, which makes children more interested in reading it. 

The fourth week we discussed Kant’s idea of Sensation to Perception to Conception, Hume's idea that it's not a fact that the sun will rise. The only fact is that it DID rise. We discussed a universal audience as a construct for allowing for the search of truth by applying a group of peoples experience. Then, artificial language vs natural language. Under this idea several specificities emerge: Natural facts are not created by man and exist apart from them, whereas artificial facts are man made. Abstract ideas are a part of natural language  The concept of one, once named, becomes artificial. Further, if God can create something from nothing, then that must count as natural. With this, the idea of creation; Poets believed that they were inspired by the “muse”, could be in touch with the subconscious. Our understanding of the unconscious gives modern philosophers a reason to want to remove themselves from the connection to the subconscious, moving deeper and deeper into the abstr...

 The idea that fairy stories are now primarily used for children's tales struck me particularly hard, as growing up, I loved those stories. In line with Tolkien's thoughts, I don't come across them very often now as an adult, which I find to be a shame. On page 59, he mentions that many fairy stories today have been "adapted for children" which I absolutely agree with. By watering down the stories to only be consumable by children, much of the nuance, and the complex ideas are lost. Additionally it insults the intelligence of children, who would benefit from stories with nuance and complexity. Perhaps more fairy stories need to find a balance between being accessible to children without compromising their complexity. 

In the third class we touched on Helen Keller’s story as an example of the importance of language, then discussed Tolkien's Mythopoeia and his interaction with Lewis’s idea that “myths were lies breathed through silver”.  I see where Lewis’s criticism comes from.  I myself find it difficult to believe that Myths can play such a major role in one's fundamental understanding of the world.  Then we discussed a bit of Barfield’s Poetic Diction by which myth can be considered ‘formative’. Further, we discussed criticisms of this idea from Muller who stated that “myth is the disease of language”. We are to cast this notion aside as we come to understand that ‘language corrupts into myth’ is technically false- ‘Modern Language is the disease of myth’. I don't quite understand the importance of this distinction.  Language spreads from myths, and takes on new meaning. ‘Myth’ words can be traced back to hunter-gatherers. Myth can carry distinct definitions of words, from this...

 The extent of Ben Shneider’s mythopoeia is reminiscent of J.R.R. Tolkien, who is rightly hailed as one of the most thorough world-makers of the fantasy genre. Middle Earth is no thoughtless backdrop. There is not a shred of arbitrary scenery or dialogue, nothing coincidental about the landscape of Tolkien’s fantasy. This is artful calculation of epic proportion, myth within myth. Layers upon layers of Lord. From the legends of Tom Bombadil to the detailed account prehistoric period spanning the decades before the Lord of the Rings Trilogy takes place, found in Simarillion. Who is Ben Shneider? His name remains shrouded in some degree of anonymity, as he creates under the stage name “Lord Huron.” The Michigan native founded the solo project, and eventually added other musicians to play on tour. He was trained as a painter. His artistic skills are displayed in the drawings featured on album art covers and released on social media under the group’s page. This reminds me...

 Make sure to start the blog with your name and the subject of the entry in the post title area. See this blog title as an example. Blog entries will be considered informal writing assignments and as such will be graded more in relation to content than style. Blog entries will contain questions and answers to questions, as well as reflections that relate to daily classroom discussions, completion of exercises, and reading assignments. Any questions you have while reading or completing assignments should be written in your blog. Reflections may relate to connections that you make between discussions in this class and those in other classes, between arguments raised in the readings in this class and those raised in other classes or from informal conversations. You are encouraged to apply the ideas learned in this class to activities that take place outside of the class. These applications make great reflections. You should bring questions from the blog to class and ask...