Keywords
Myth These ten points provide a general “definitional matrix” for my study of myth in journalism and popular culture.
Apocalypse The apocalypse myth has a long lineage in a variety of historic cultures not just the Judeo-Christian world. As Eugen Weber has argued, “apocalypse long furnished the key to human history,” particularly in the Judeo-Christian west where until the 17th century “premonitory history” was history.
The quest The quest myth is one of the fundamental mythic patterns discernable in a variety of cultures and times: the Arthurian quest for the Holy Grail, Moses’ quest for the promised land, the exploits of the Homeric Odyssey are obvious examples. The Star Wars films, The Lord of the Rings or The Matrix trilogy offer variations of this story in contemporary guise.
New world/other world The quest narrative is closely related to the discovery of new worlds, expanding the frontier is a task faced with both desire and trepidation in many traditional hero stories.
Home Creation myths and national foundation myths are common mythic forms. The myth of the Jewish promised land is one such ancient story that continues to have very material consequences.
The family drama The web of family drama is today unavoidably set against pervasive psychoanalytic self-awareness. Classic myths meet dysfunctional families and royal successions are played out in the corporate corridors of multinational organisations.
The alchemist In popular discourse alchemy is only tangentially related to the complexities of the mystic precursor of modern chemistry. In its ancient form, alchemy was not just based around crude attempts to transform lead into gold but was a well developed esoteric philosophical system.
The Trickster The trickster is one of the most enduring and widespread mythical figures. The antics of Br’er Rabbit, the Shakespearean fool, Native American Coyote tales, Chinese Monkey tales, the adventures of the Greek god Hermes, and the exploits of the Rabelaisian carnival can all be read as realms of the trickster type.
MA Minor Thesis (Completed 2003)
Myth and meaning in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend: an analysis of narrative journalism
This is a study of the narrative journalism in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Saturday magazine supplement, Good Weekend. I argue for a broadly cultural model of journalism. Theories of narrative and myth provide a structural framework in which to analyse the journalism produced by Good Weekend. I argue that Good Weekend feature stories can be read against a series of six myths and that this engagement with culturally resonant storylines contributes to a magazine identity that is congruent with both its editorial and marketing imperatives. The study aims to contribute to research on magazine journalism in general and weekend newspaper magazines in particular both of which have been under represented topics in journalism studies.The study also aims to contribute to the theory on myth as a heuristic device in journalism studies. Although there have been a number of studies on news and myth there have been surprisingly few on myth and narrative journalism. It is also the contention of this study that much of the work on journalism and myth has been poorly formulated and that this area of journalism studies needs to be more rigorously theorised.
The study analyses the features of the Good Weekend against a typology of six mythic types: The quest; the new world/other world; home; the family drama; the alchemist; and the trickster.
Download: Theory chapter on myth
Download: Case Study 1: 'The young prince’s nightmare:
a myth of family drama'
Download: Case Study 2: 'The trace of Condoleezza Rice:
a moral quest'
