Myth and Culture

CURE 3022: Myth, Fantasy and Culture
Lecturer: Prof. Wong Wai Ching (黃慧貞)

Office: KKL 305; Tel.: 39436525; Email: waiching@cuhk.edu.hk
Teaching Assistant: Ni Ziquan (倪子荃)
Classroom and Time: LSK 208, Tuesdays 11.30 a.m. – 1.00 pm
1) Course Description:
The course will approach a selection of ancient myths from the cultural traditions of
China, Greece, India, Babylon and Egypt from various perspectives, introducing the main
theories of myths and the classical themes concerning myths. Building on the studies of
ancient myths and fantasy and utopia as modern literary devices, their relationship to society,
politics and popular culture will be analyzed. The main purpose of the course is to underline
not only the multiple approaches to studying myths and fantasy in literatures and cultures
around the world, but also their significance throughout history to the human mind and their
integral relations to specific physical, historical, and sociopolitical settings of human thriving
and surviving. The topics of study include creation, festival and time, sexuality, the making of
heroes and peoples, fantasy in literature and popular culture, etc.
2) Learning Outcome:
Students are expected to acquire:
a) basic knowledge about selected classical myths;
b) a general grasp of modern approaches to studying myths and fantasy;
c) basic understanding of narrative versus scientific models of knowledge;
d) basic analytical skills toward studying myths and modern culture of fantasy;
e) the critical ability to appreciate the significance of myths and fantasy in contemporary
society.
3) Course Outline:
1. 15/1 General Introduction

Jurgen Klein, Vera Damm and Angelika Giebeler, “An Outline of a Theory of Imagination,”
Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1983): 15-23.
Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, “Strangers to Ourselves: Psychoanalysis,” 119-127.
2. 22/1 Anthropological Studies of Myth

Claude Levi-Strauss, “The Structural Study of Myth,” in Teaching Levi-Strauss, ed. Hans
Penner, pp. 47-70.
Roland A. Champagne, The Structuralists on Myth: An Introduction, pp. 1-56.
Andrew von Hendy, The Modern Construction of Myth, pp. 77-111; 230-261.
3. 29/1 Psychoanalysis and Myth

Andrew von Hendy, The Modern Construction of Myth, pp. 112-153.
Steven F. Walker, Jung and the Jungians on Myth: An Introduction, pp. 3-91.
Meili Steele, “Explanation, Understanding and Incommensurability in Psychoanalysis,” in
Allegory Revisited: Ideals of Mankind, ed. Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, pp. 367-376.
Anthony Stevens, “Eros and Psyche,” in Ariadne’s Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of
Humankind; 220-235, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998.
4. 5/2 Myth in Contemporary Cultural Studies

Andrew von Hendy, The Modern Construction of Myth, pp. 278-340.
Slavoj Zizek, “Two Ways to Avoid the Real of Desire (1991),” in Contemporary Literary
Criticism: Literary and Cultural Studies, 430-446.
Nicholas J. Demerath III, “Secularization Extended: From Religious “Myth” to Cultural
Commonplace,” in The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion, ed. Richard K.
Fenn, 211-228.
Chinese New Year Vacation
5. 19/2 Creation Myths: Enuma elish (Babylonian Myth)

Barbara C. Sproul, “The Enuma Elish,” in Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World,
1991: pp. 91-113.
“Introduction,” pp. 1-30.
6. 26/2 Sexuality in Myths: Genesis II – III (Hebrew Myth)

Northrop Frye and Jay Macpherson, eds. “Images of Paradise: Trees and Water,” and “Parody
and Manifest Demonic: Trees and Water,” in Biblical and Classical Myths: The
Mythological Framework of Western Culture, 1st ed.1962; Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2004, pp. 31-37; 41-48.
Conrad E. L’Heureux, In and Out of Paradise: The Book of Genesis from Adam and Eve to
the Tower of Babel, Chs. 2 and 4.
Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, pp. 1-16.
宋兆麟：
「人祖神話與生育信仰」
，載《神與神話》
，王孝廉主編，211-246。
7. 5/3 The Making of Heroes: Homer, The Odyssey (Greek Myth)

Chs. X, XI, XX – XXII.
Northrop Frye and Jay Macpherson, eds. “The Return of Odysseus,” in Biblical and Classical
2
Myths: The Mythological Framework of Western Culture, 1st ed.1962; Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2004, pp. 373-387.
Ken Dowden, “Fluctuating Meanings: “Passage Rites” in Ritual, Myth, Odyssey,” in Rites of
Passage in Ancient Greece, ed. Mark W. Padilla.
Robert A. Segal, “Introduction: In Quest of the Hero,” in In Quest of the Hero, pp. vii-xli.
8. 12/3 The Making of Peoples: Myths of Yao, Shun and Yu (Han Myths)
陶阳，鈡秀編：《中国神話》，第八，九章（選讀）
栗原圭介：
「原始漢民族及其神話式的世界觀」
，載《神與神話》
，王孝廉主編，247-269。
艾兰著，杨民等譯：「太阳之子：古代中国的神話和图腾主义」，載《早期中国历史》
：
1-52。
Zhang Longxi, “The Myth of the Other: China in the Eyes of the West,” in Comparative
Political Culture in the Age of Globalization, ed. Hwa Yol Jung, pp. 83-108.
Sarah Allan, “From Myth to History,” in The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in
Early China, pp. 57-73.
9. 19/3 Myths: Recreation and Presentation

Group re-writing of a traditional myth and presentation.
(Criteria of assessment: originality, intertextuality, critical engagement and creativity)
10. 26/3 Fantasy and Utopia: Thomas More: The Utopia, Book 2.
Surtz, S.J., Edward. “Introduction: Utopia: Past and Present.” In St. Thomas More: Utopia, ed.
Edward Surtz. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1964.
陳正焱，林其錟：
《中國古代大同思想研究》，第一章。
Donald Capps, “Melancholia, Utopia, and the Psychoanalysis of Dreams,” in The Blackwell
Companion to Sociology of Religion, pp. 85-104.
Richard Kearney, “Between Tradition and Utopia: The Hermeneutical Problem of Myth,” in
On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and Interpretation, ed. David Wood, pp. 55-73.
11. 2/4 Writing of the Fantastic: Pu Songling: Liaozhai zhiyi (Selection)

Karl S.Y. Kao, “Projection, Displacement, Introjection: The Strangeness of Liaozhai zhiyi,” in
Paradoxes of Traditional Chinese Literature, ed. Eva Hung, pp. 199-229..
12. 9/4 Fantasy and Modern Culture: Peter Jackson: The Fellowship of the Rings
Jim Smith and J. Clive Matthews, The Lord of the Rings: The Films, the Books, the
Radio Series (London: Virgin, 2004).
Peter M. Nichols, “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring,” in Children’s
Movies: A Critic’s Guide to the Best Films Available on Video and DVD (New
3
York: Times Books, 2003), 176-178.
J.R.R. Tolkien 著; Alan Lee 圖；朱學恆譯：《魔戒首部曲：魔戒現身》(臺北市 :
聯經出版事業公司，2001)。
13. 16/4 Fantasy and Popular Culture: Hayao Miyazaki: Howl’s Moving Castle
Susan J. Napier, “Enchantment of Estrangement: The Shojo in the World of Miyazaki
Hayao,” in Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing
Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave, 2001), 121-138.
Carol Ota, “Liminal Spaces and Allegorical Quests: Anime of Hayao Miyazaki,” in
The Relay of Gazes: Representations of Culture in the Japanese Televisual and
Cinematic Experience (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2007), 24-40.
Helen McCarthy, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation: Films, Themes,
Artistry (Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 1999).
14. 23/4 Conclusion: History, Narrative and Imagination

Paul Ricoeur, “Life in Quest of Narrative,” in On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and Interpretation,
ed. David Wood, pp. 20-33.
William Bascom, “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives,” in Sacred Narrative: Readings
in the Theory of Myth, ed. Alan Dundes, pp. 5-29.
G.S. Kirk, “Tales, Dreams, Symbols: Towards a Fuller Understanding of Myths,” in Myth: Its
Meaning & Functions in Ancient & Other Cultures, Ch. VI: pp. 252-285.
4) Learning Activities
I. Project Presentation:
a. Each group presentation shall take no more than 20 minutes.
b. Class presentation is aimed to familiarize students with the background and the
content of the specific text.
c. Creative presentation is aimed to cultivate a dialogue between traditional myth and
the contemporary context.
II. Tutorial Readings:

There will be tutorials of six double periods to be arranged between tutor and students.
Tutorial discussion shall be based on the following texts chosen.
1. 李維斯陀，楊德睿譯：《神話與意義》，頁 22-90。
2. Roland Barthes, “Myth Today,” in Mythologies, pp. 109-159.
3. Sigmund Freud, “The Interpretation of Dreams,” in Literary Theory: An Anthology, ed.
Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, pp. 128-149.
4
4. Steven F. Walker, “Mythology and the Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious,” in
Jung and the Jungians on Myth, pp. 3-28.
5. Joseph Campbell, “Transformation of the Hero,” in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, pp.
315-364.
6. 何福仁著：
《浮城 1.2.3：西西小說新析》
。
5) Course Requirements:
1. Class participation: 10%
2. Group presentation: 25%
3. Tutorials: 25%
5. Term Paper: 40%
Length: about 3,000-4,000 words, in either Chinese or English, on a topic related
to the course. Deadline: 5 pm on 2 May 2013.
Late submission: one subgrade will be deducted for every 24 hours of delayed
submission. Papers with no proper documentation (footnotes and references) will
be returned and treated as late submission if resubmitted after the deadline.
The University places very high importance on honesty in academic work.

According to the Honesty in Academic Work: A Guide for Students and Teachers
(http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/), all assignments should be
submitted to VeriGuide
(https://academic.veriguide.org/academic/login_CUHK.jspx) and accompanied
by a signed declaration statement when handing into teachers.

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CURE 3022: Myth, Fantasy and Culture

Lecturer: Prof. Wong Wai Ching (黃慧貞)

1. 15/1 General Introduction

2. 22/1 Anthropological Studies of Myth

3. 29/1 Psychoanalysis and Myth

4. 5/2 Myth in Contemporary Cultural Studies

Chinese New Year Vacation

5. 19/2 Creation Myths: Enuma elish (Babylonian Myth)

6. 26/2 Sexuality in Myths: Genesis II – III (Hebrew Myth)

7. 5/3 The Making of Heroes: Homer, The Odyssey (Greek Myth)

9. 19/3 Myths: Recreation and Presentation

11. 2/4 Writing of the Fantastic: Pu Songling: Liaozhai zhiyi (Selection)

14. 23/4 Conclusion: History, Narrative and Imagination

II. Tutorial Readings:

The University places very high importance on honesty in academic work.

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