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Welsh Mythology - A Neo-Structuralist Analysis (Hardcover, New)
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Welsh Mythology - A Neo-Structuralist Analysis (Hardcover, New)
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A little-known lecture by Levi-Strauss is the inspiration for this
work. In this lecture, he intuitively suggested that in medieval
Europe there once existed a set of myths, centred on the grail,
which are structurally the opposite of the goatsucker myths that he
famously analyzed in his mythologiques series. This work uses
Levi-Strauss' inspirational lecture as a launchpad for an
exploration of a group of related medieval Welsh myths, two of
which have been briefly considered previously by Levi-Strauss
himself. The root of the methodological approach this book employs
throughout is the Structuralism of Claude Levi-Strauss; however, it
has been modified to incorporate the suggestions of later
neo-Structuralists. This analysis tool is applied to a group of
myths, which have become conveniently--if somewhat
erroneously--known as the Mabinogion. The name Mabinogion appears
as part of a colophon at the end of one of the myth of Pwyll and it
was later adopted first by Pugh (1835), and then by Lady Charlotte
Guest (1838) as a title for their now famous translations of Welsh
mythology. Consequently, the title has stuck to describe the
material that is contained within their translations and, while it
is a somewhat inaccurate way to describe the myths, it has the
virtues of being both a succinct and widely recognised signifier.
The term has come to signify eight myths, or perhaps more
accurately eight groups of myths, which are all present in the late
fourteenth-century manuscript Llyfr Coch Hergest (The Red Book of
Hergest), and all but one of which can be found in the slightly
earlier Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (The White Book of Rhydderch). As
such, the Mabinogion is the key collection of medieval Welsh
mythology and an important source for early Arthurian material.
Although Structuralism and the Mabinogion have attracted a good
deal of attention from the academic world, there has been never
been a sustained attempt to follow Levi-Strauss' intuitive insights
with a methodical Structuralist analysis of this material. In the
year of Levi-Strauss' centenary celebrations, this work is the
first sustained attempt to follow his intuitive suggestions about
several Mabinogion myths with a detailed Structuralist analysis of
the Mabinogion. This work is therefore a unique anthropological
presentation and analysis of the Mabinogion, which argues for a
radical, new interpretation of these myths in light of the
existence of a central system of interlocking symbols that has the
Grail at its heart. Through the analysis, the book reveals a
logical organizational principle that underlies a body of material
that has previously been viewed as disparate and confusing. This
underlying structure is demonstrated to be, as Levi-Strauss
suggested it may, the opposite of that which Levi-Strauss himself
uncovered in the Americas. The revelation of this new form of
underlying structure leads to a rethinking of some important
aspects of Structuralism, including the Canonical formula, at the
same time as acting as a tribute to the farsightedness of
Levi-Strauss. This book makes important contributions to the fields
of Arthurian studies, anthropology, Celtic studies, cultural
studies, medieval studies, mythology and religious studies.
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