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Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel
Author(s): José Manuel Losada Goya (Author, Editor), Marta Guirao Ochoa (Author, Editor)
- Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Publication Date: 15 May 2012
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 545 pages
- ISBN-10: 1443837466
- ISBN-13: 9781443837460
Book Description
This bilingual work identifies and explains the subversive rewriting of ancient, medieval and modern myths in contemporary novels. The book opens with two theoretical essays on the subject of subversive tendencies and myth reinvention in the contemporary novel. From there, it moves on to the analysis of essential texts. Firstly, classical myths in works by authors such as André Gide, Thomas Pynchon, Julio Cortázar, Italo Calvino or Christa Wolf (for instance, Theseus, Oedipus or Medea) are discussed. Then, myths of biblical origin – such as the Flood or the Golem – are revisited in the work of Giorgio Bassani, Julian Barnes and Cynthia Ozick. A further section is concerned with the place of modern myths (Faust, the ghost, Ophelia…) in the fiction of Günter Grass, Paul Auster, or Clara Janés. The contributors have also delved into the relationship between myth and art – especially in the discourse of contemporary advertising, painting and cinema – and myth’s intercultural dimensions: hybridity in the Latin American novels of Augusto Roa Bastos and Carlos Fuentes, and in the Hindu-themed novels of Bharati Mukherjee. This volume emerges from the careful selection of 37 essays out of over 200 which were put forward by outstanding scholars from 25 different countries for the Madrid International Conference on Myth and Subversion (March 2011). Este volumen bilingüe identifica y explica la práctica subversiva aplicada a los mitos antiguos, medievales y modernos en la novela contemporánea. Abren el libro dos estudios teóricos sobre la tendencia subversiva y la reinvención de mitos en la actualidad. Prosigue el análisis de diversos textos de primera importancia. En primer lugar se revisan los mitos clásicos en autores como André Gide, Thomas Pynchon, Julio Cortázar, Italo Calvino o Christa Wolf (p. ej., Teseo, Edipo, Medea). En segundo lugar, la reescritura de los mitos bíblicos según Giorgio Bassani, Julian Barnes o Cynthia Ozick (p. ej., el diluvio o el Golem). En tercer lugar, mitos modernos en la ficción de Günter Grass, Paul Auster o Clara Janés (p. ej., Fausto, el fantasma, Ofelia). El volumen presta igualmente atención a las relaciones entre mito y arte (su recurrencia en la publicidad, la pintura y el cine contemporáneos) y a la vertiente intercultural de los mitos: el mestizaje en la novela latinoamericana de Augusto Roa Bastos y Carlos Fuentes, o en la de temática hindú de Bharati Mukherjee. La compilación resulta de una exquisita selección de 37 textos entre los más de 200 propuestos para el Congreso Internacional Mito y Subversión (Madrid, marzo de 2011) por investigadores de prestigio procedentes de 25 países.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘He leído con mucho interés el volumen Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel y sostengo calurosamente el proyecto de su publicación en su editorial. El libro posee una estructura unitaria y una división clara y convincente. Es preciso alabar la variedad geográfica y metodológica del volumen, tanto por su perspectiva multiculturalista como por sus acercamientos deconstruccionistas, postcoloniales, polifónicos, feministas y mitopoéticos. Por todos estos motivos reitero mi apoyo a la oportunidad y la necesidad de la publicación de este libro.’ – Dr Víctor Ivanovici, Profesor Asociado, de Literatura Hispánica, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Aristóteles de Salónica, Grecia’I read with great interest the volume Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel and warmly contend the draft publication in its editorial. The book has a unitary structure and a clear division and convincing. Must praise the geographical and methodological volume, both for its multiculturalist perspective as its deconstructionist approaches, postcolonial, polyphonic, feminist and mythopoetic. For all these reasons I reiterate my support for the opportunity and the need for the publication of this book.’ – Translated from above.’Subversion appears to be the very condition for the freedom of human mind. Consequently, subversion refashions mythical narratives, their structures and ideologies. Deconstruction and demystification of myths, particularly in contemporary novels, both call for a reinvented myth criticism, a noble task completed with great mastery in this thoroughly researched volume, with 36 essays in English and in Spanish.’ – Metka Zupančič, Professor of French/Modern Languages, Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, USA
About the Author
José Manuel Losada Goya (www.josemanuellosada.es) studied at the Sorbonne, Harvard, Montreal and Oxford. He is Professor in French and Comparative Literature at Complutense University, Spain. Among his books, the Bibliography of the Myth of Don Juan (1997) has been highly acclaimed. More recently, Mito y mundo contemporáneo (2010) received the 2011 Giovi Città di Salerno International Award. He is Editor of Amaltea. Journal of Myth Criticism (http://www.ucm.es/info/amaltea/revista/eng/journal.html) and President of Asteria. International Association of Myth Criticism. Marta Guirao Ochoa studied at University College London and Warwick University. She is currently a lecturer in Translation at CES Felipe II, Complutense University, Spain. She has published essays on translation in TRANS (1996, 1998) and El reverso del tapiz (2008), and on myth criticism in Mito y mundo contemporáneo (2010). Her edited books include Últimas tendencias en Traducción e Interpretación (2011).
