Myth as a Means of Ordering and Organizing Social Reality

Authors

  • Igor S. Baklanov
  • Olga A. Baklanova
  • Alexey M. Erokhin
  • Natalia N. Ponarina
  • Goarik A. Akopyan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v7i2.1582

Keywords:

Myth, Social myth, Myth making, Representation of social reality, Myth phenomenology, Mythologization of consciousness.

Abstract

This study investigates the phenomenon of social myth as a factor of forming and transforming the consciousness of social actors. It is defined that one of the factors of appealing to mythological representation of reality is the crisis of scientific orientations of modernism. In this plane, the article studies phenomenological receptions of myth as well as the process of mythologization of modern social reality. Moreover, attention is drawn to the fact that mythologization fixes an idea of social reality and its axiological (value) dimension in the consciousness of separate individuals and their groups. Myths are axiological indicators; the more controversial society values are the greater number of myths is produced by social consciousness to eliminate these contradictions. The difference between modern and archaic myth has both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Modern society generates a great number of myths with much more narrow content. This is a consequence of "specialization" of myths, their orientation towards solving particular local tasks: political, economic, etc. Functional and structural changes of social myths can be accounted for by critical, permanently transitional condition of society in which myth compensates the unformed elements of new social practices. However, the content side of myth is not a crisis but social request and values of particular culture. The question about the necessity to fight against myths probably should be answered negatively if we don’t mean the most dangerous myths posing a serious threat for society. Myths are in harmony with social consciousness and arise in places where there is a fault between current and desirable normativity. Thus, when social practices become stable social consciousness itself displaces and nullifies myths that are responsible for harmonization of new order and they become demanded.

References

Baddorf, M. (2017). Phenomenal Consciousness, Collective Mentality, and Collective Moral Responsibility. Philosophical Studies. 174(11): 2769-2786.

Baklanov, I. S.; Baklanova, O. A.; Goncharov, V. N.; Erokhin, A. M.; Kolosova, & O. Yu. (2015). Ontological Status and Valuable Determination of Social Norms and Normative Systems. The Social Sciences. 10: 2216-2220.

Bubandt, N. (2014). The Empty Seashell: Witchcraft and Doubt on an Indonesian Island. Cornell University Press.

Bull, M. & Mitchell, J. P. (2015). Ritual, Performance and the Senses. Bloomsbury Publishing: 224.

Cassirer, E. (1953). Language and Myth. Trans. by Susanne K. Langer. New York: Dover Publication.

Comte, A. (1830-1842). Cours de philosophie positive. V. I-VI, P., V. I.

Huebner, B. (2011). Genuinely collective emotions. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. 1(1): 89-118.

Huebner, B. (2014). Macrocognition: A Theory of Distributed Minds and Collective Intentionality. Oxford University Press.

Kieschnick, J. & Shahar, M. (eds.) (2014). India in the Chinese Imagination. Myth, Religion, and Thought. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Krueger, J. (2015). The Affective «We»: Self-regulation and Shared Emotions. T. Szanto & D. Moran (eds.), the Phenomenology of Sociality: Discovering the «We». Routledge: 263-277.

Le Bon, G. (1982). Psychologie Der Massen. Mit einer Einführung von Prof. Dr. Peter R. Hofstätter. Stuttgart: Kröne.

Lincoln, B. (2014). Discourse and the Construction of Society. Comparative Studies of Myth, Ritual and Classification. Oxford University Press.

Mamardashvili, M. K. & Pyatigorsky, A. M. (1997). Symbol and consciousness. Metaphysical reasonings on consciousness, symbolics and language. Under the general edition of Yu.P. Senokosov. M.: Languages of the Russian Culture school: 218.

Nagapetova, A. G.; Pokhilko, A. D.; Shmatko, A. A.; Vetrov, Y. P. & Novikova, O. S. (2017). Social-Historical Transformations in Russia. Journal of history culture and art research. 6(4): 1344-1350. DOI: 10.7596/taksad.v6i4.1191.

Schackt, J. (2014). A People of Stories in the Forest of Myth. The Yukuna of Miritiparaná. Novus Press.

Szanto, T. (2015). Collective Emotions, Normativity, and Empathy: A Steinian Account. Human Studies. 38(4): 503-527.

Vico, G. (1976). The Topics of History: The Deep Structure of the New Science. G. Tagliacozzo and D. Philip Verene (eds), «Science of Humanity», Baltimore and London.

Downloads

Published

2018-07-02

How to Cite

Baklanov, I. S., Baklanova, O. A., Erokhin, A. M., Ponarina, N. N., & Akopyan, G. A. (2018). Myth as a Means of Ordering and Organizing Social Reality. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 7(2), 41-47. https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v7i2.1582