Joseph Campbell

[gnostic]

What do you think of Joseph Campbell and his works/writings?

He was one of the prolific authors of the last century, who wrote a number of books about mythology and religion. His most notable works include The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The Mask Of God.

I have a great interest in mythology, and yet I've not read any of his books. I have tendency to go for my own research, reading the literature for myself, instead of relying on other people's views on mythological or religious topics.

• Have you read any of his works?
• What do you think of his books?
• Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?
• The understanding of ancient belief?

 

[Riverwolf]

Joseph Campbell's ideas are wonderful, and full of great insight. Unfortunately, he's a rather lousy writer. ^_^

 

[gnostic]

Unfortunately, he's a rather lousy writer.

Really? LOL

What make him a lousy writer?

 

[linwood]

Have you read any of his works?

Yes, Hero with a thousand faces and The Power of Myth

What do you think of his books?

They are well written by a person who is intimate with the subject matter.

Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?

Cambell`s whole point seems to be how myth and folklore relate to and shape culture.
I think they offer a very valuable perspective.

The understanding of ancient belief?

I`d say so.

 

[Riverwolf]

Really? LOL

What make him a lousy writer?

He tends to be rather wordy in his writing, and is sometimes hard to follow.

 

[Sunstone]

Unfortunately, he's a rather lousy writer. ^_^

I think his style is well suited to conveying the complexity of myths, although it is an unusual style.

 

[Duck]

What do you think of Joseph Campbell and his works/writings?

He was one of the prolific authors of the last century, who wrote a number of books about mythology and religion. His most notable works include The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The Mask Of God.

I have a great interest in mythology, and yet I've not read any of his books. I have tendency to go for my own research, reading the literature for myself, instead of relying on other people's views on mythological or religious topics.

• Have you read any of his works?
• What do you think of his books?
• Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?
• The understanding of ancient belief?

I haven't finished Hero with a Thousand Faces yet but what I have read so far seems to be pretty insightful. One of the points he made in Power of Myth which was essentially the transcript for a PBS special if I remember correctly, was about the rise of gangs as a replacement for the tribe/clan due to the disintegration of the extended family in modern society. I thought the point was very interesting. He also essentially pointed out that movies and other forms of entertainment were essentially in some ways rehashing old archetypes that are found almost universally in human cultures. Was/is pretty interesting stuff.

 

[Willamena]

What do you think of Joseph Campbell and his works/writings?

Have you read any of his works?

I have read few books cover to cover, but I've read bits.

Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?

I think they are an invaluable contribution to understanding mythologies. I probably wouldn't have grasped a concept of "God" if not for ideas he'd expressed in the manner he expressed them.

 

[gnostic]

He tends to be rather wordy in his writing, and is sometimes hard to follow.

I think just about everyone who was educated before the 1940s, tends to be "wordy" in their writings.

Do you prefer James G. Frazer or Robert Grave (The White Goddess)? Or even Carl Jung?

I have tried reading Frazer's huge Golden Bough, and had difficulties finishing it.

Cambell`s whole point seems to be how myth and folklore relate to and shape culture.

I am assuming that you're speaking of both past and present culture, is that right?

I think they are an invaluable contribution to understanding mythologies.

Most likely, you're right. I don't doubt his contributions.

 

[Wandered Off]

I have read Pathways to Bliss. It is full of great insight, although I tend to agree with Riverwolf a bit about his style. I didn't find it as "engaging" as I think it could be with the subject matter, but I suspect the problem is mine.

 

[linwood]

I am assuming that you're speaking of both past and present culture, is that right?

Yes.

Campbell speaks of his understanding of ancient or older mythology/religion and the benefits it gave early civilizations.

He then speaks of how those old stories/doctrines are outdated and harmful to today`s culture.

He advocates a "New Mythology" to take the place of the old.

This is where Campbell and I part ways philosophically as I see no need for literal belief in any mythology at all to shape a modern world.

 

[Wandered Off]

He advocates a "New Mythology" to take the place of the old.

This is where Campbell and I part ways philosophically as I see no need for literal belief in any mythology at all to shape a modern world.

I could be wrong, but I didn't take it that he was calling for a literal belief in mythology but rather a new set of symbols to replace the old ones - while being fully aware that they are myths (non-literal symbols).

I have to confess, though, that I'm a little lazy for mythology anyway. I'd rather just be told straight up than to have to dig out the moral from a story. I'm more of a "Just tell me the point you want to get across" type. Mythology can add a layer of overhead that's too easy to confuse for the message - at least for me.

 

[Willamena]

Yes.

Campbell speaks of his understanding of ancient or older mythology/religion and the benefits it gave early civilizations.

He then speaks of how those old stories/doctrines are outdated and harmful to today`s culture.

He advocates a "New Mythology" to take the place of the old.

This is where Campbell and I part ways philosophically as I see no need for literal belief in any mythology at all to shape a modern world.

We already live in a world shaped by believing and living modern myths. Where we now wallow in a chotic mess of mythic images that compell us -- ranging from advertisers promoting ideas that we "need" this and "need" that until they become a necessary, ingrained part of lives, to idealistically spending millions of dollars to send a robot to Neptune just to be destroyed, to decrying villains for their humanitarian works and exonerating heroes for their failings -- what Campbell is calling for is a particular type of myth that will specifically address a more healthy relationship with the world around us. It will describe us: take us away from the current story we've written about ourselves and all subscribe to, and inscribe us closer reality, closer to home.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Have you read any of his works?

I've read chunks. Haven't read any of them from cover to cover.

What do you think of his books?

Interesting, but not as interesting as I had hoped. His writing tends to ramble on and be a bit unfocused at times, but there are some good nuggets. Overall, there's a lot less "meat" than I was expecting.

Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?

His observations provide an interesting filter to view cultures through, which seems to create some interesting correlations across and throughout human cultures.

I'd recommend watching the Power of Myth interview series (The Power of Myth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I saw this years ago, and I found it more interesting than reading his books. For one, he's a very likable man whose passion and knowledge come through more clearly when seeing him speak. Also, he covers many of the primary topics in his books, albeit, more concisely.

 

[linwood]

I could be wrong, but I didn't take it that he was calling for a literal belief in mythology but rather a new set of symbols to replace the old ones - while being fully aware that they are myths (non-literal symbols).

You may be right but if so then Campbell understands far less about the human psyche than he does mythology.
There is no way you can take away the literal belief from theists and replace it with non-literal mythology and have it satisfy their needs.

I have to confess, though, that I'm a little lazy for mythology anyway. I'd rather just be told straight up than to have to dig out the moral from a story. I'm more of a "Just tell me the point you want to get across" type. Mythology can add a layer of overhead that's too easy to confuse for the message - at least for me.

I like finding the moral or meaning in folklore and myth and enjoy a good analogy (a rarity) but I believe you`re right that Campbell`s idea would for the most part confuse the masses about it`s objectivity.
Considering they already seem quite confused about the reality of the current mythologies we have I see no reason why a new better mythology would be any less confusing.

We already live in a world shaped by believing and living modern myths. Where we now wallow in a chotic mess of mythic images that compell us -- ranging from advertisers promoting ideas that we "need" this and "need" that until they become a necessary, ingrained part of lives, to idealistically spending millions of dollars to send a robot to Neptune just to be destroyed, to decrying villains for their humanitarian works and exonerating heroes for their failings -- what Campbell is calling for is a particular type of myth that will specifically address a more healthy relationship with the world around us. It will describe us: take us away from the current story we've written about ourselves and all subscribe to, and inscribe us closer reality, closer to home.

I don`t recall Campbell comparing the modern myths you mention above.
In The Power Of Myth he directly confronts the problems of believing in the ancient myths and how he believes they need to be "replaced" with( as you say )something modern people can relate to in their environment.
However even if you`re correct to any extent I still disagree with him.

It`s my experience that most people in my culture have no understanding of what myth is as is evidenced by your mention of the plethora of modern myths not to mention the literalism rampant throughout Christianity in American culture.

For the average person myth can`t equate to reality and still fulfill the promises made by the myths they hold as truth now.
If a new myth based upon reality were to attempt to compete with the unrealistic promises of the old myths it would lose hands down.
No afterlife, objective cosmic purpose..etc.

 

[Oberon]

What do you think of Joseph Campbell and his works/writings?

He is far too dependent of Jungian psychology, which is completely unscientific, and a terrible approach to anthropology.

Have you read any of his works?

Several. I also own The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology.

What do you think of his books?

He has some good points, and presents a great deal of valuable data, but his schema for understanding the data (i.e. Jungian psychology) is terribly flawed.

Are they valuable contribution to the knowledge of understanding civilisations and cultures?

Yes and no. He uses a wide range of sources and presents an abundance of the results of anthropological research. I have used the his bibliographies and summaries for research. His presentation of the data is lacking.

 

[KeithCristian]

Anybody read Iron John by Robert Bly?

 

[gnostic]

I have forgotten all about this thread.

Anybody read Iron John by Robert Bly?

Sorry, never heard of it and him.

He is far too dependent of Jungian psychology, which is completely unscientific, and a terrible approach to anthropology.

Well, when dealing with myths, I don't think the scientific approach would get anywhere.

I have never study psychology before, so the Jungian psychology would be mostly lost on me. From the little I know, Jung deals a lot with dreams and myths, and the uses of archetypes.

 

[KeithCristian]

I just got his Hero with a thousand faces book. First time I've read him. Robert Bly's book was some what hard but still readable. Hero though is much harder to follow.

Bly's Iron John book is really good.

 

[KeithCristian]

I'm only in the first chapter of Hero/Thousand Faces book. But the point I'm picking up is - all myths are 99.99% the same with the same answer - the answers to our problems are inside each of us, not outside, not in other people, not in other books, but in our individual minds/souls/brains.