mythical analysis

is an act whereby the finishing point imposes itself unexpectedly, coming about when the undertaking arrives at the point where its ideal object has acquired adequate form and consistency.

We are dealing with a reality in process, a reality which is perpetually under the attack from a past which ruins it and a future which changes it. Each case in the literature illustrates how distant such a goal is and we must content ourselves with samples and remains. We have shown that the starting point of the analysis must inevitably be chosen haphazardly because the organizing principles of the mythic material are in the material and will only be revealed progressively. It is inevitable that the finishing point will also impose itself in an equally unexpected way. That will come when the undertaking arrives at the point where its ideal object has acquired adequate form and consistency. There will then be no possibility of doubting its existence as an object properly considered as such nor of certain of its latent properties. Here, as with the optical miscroscope which cannot reveal matter's ultimate structure to the observer, our only choice is between certain enlargements... each manifests a level of organization whose truth is relative... each, while in use, excludes the perception of other levels.' (Levi-Strauss 1966b:44)

is an act whereby the starting point is chosen haphazardly because the organizing principles of the mythic material are in the material and will only be revealed progressively.

is an act whereby, as with the optical microscope which cannot reveal matter's ultimate structure to the observer, our only choice is between certain enlargements... each manifests a level of organization whose truth is relative... each, while in use, excludes the perception of other levels.

mythical analysis, n.Definitions

mythical analysis