Identification of Myth in the Propagation of Narrative Across Generational Boundaries
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Communication & Theatre Arts Theses Communication & Theatre Arts Spring 2021 The Contextualization of Myth: Identification of Myth in the Propagation of Narrative Across Generational Boundaries Joseph G. Ponthieux Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/communication_etds Part of the Communication Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Ponthieux, Joseph G.. "The Contextualization of Myth: Identification of Myth in the Propagation of Narrative Across Generational Boundaries" (2021). Master of Arts (MA), Thesis, Communication & Theatre Arts, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/x1s9-xb45 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/communication_etds/13 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication & Theatre Arts at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication & Theatre Arts Theses by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CONTEXTUALIZATION OF MYTH: IDENTIFICATION OF MYTH IN THE PROPAGATION OF NARRATIVE ACROSS GENERATIONAL BOUNDARIES by Joseph G. Ponthieux A.A.S. May 1985, Hinds Community College B.S. August 1988, University of Southern Mississippi A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS LIFESPAN AND DIGITAL COMMUNICATION OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY May 2021 Approved by: Thomas J. Socha (Director) E. James Baesler (Member) Frances Hassencahl (Member) ABSTRACT THE CONTEXTUALIZATION OF MYTH: IDENTIFICATION OF MYTH IN THE PROPAGATION OF NARRATIVE ACROSS GENERATIONAL BOUNDARIES Joseph G. Ponthieux Old Dominion University, 2021 Director: Dr. Thomas J. Socha This thesis demonstrates the unique correlation between myth and the propagation of narrative across generational boundaries. It argues that myth occurs in the intersection of belief, semiotics, and context, and further enables a way of re-encoding a narrative with a dual contextuality. This dual context preserves a narrative’s literal context while endowing it with a new or modified myth context and affords the audience a selection of choices for how to receive a narrative experienced as myth. To demonstrate this correlation a Myth Context Reception Model is designed for the purpose of identifying ascendent, obscure or emergent myths evident in an audience’s reception of narrative, as a result the paradoxical human beliefs and behaviors the audience imposes upon narratives appropriated as myth. Three over-arching narratives, classical myth, Santa Claus, and Batman are then evaluated as exemplars, using the procedures defined by the model, to demonstrate that myth can influence the propagation of a narrative across many generations and in ways we might not expect. And to show that myth is a powerful a rhetoric that is stealthily obscure, remarkably ubiquitous, and resilient. Even in the modern day. Keywords: myth, context, mimesis, semiotics, generation, lifespan, belief, paradox, appropriation, imitation, obscure myth, emergent myth, ascendent myth, paradoxical belief, appropriative imitation, reverse-mimesis iii Copyright, 2021, by Joseph G. Ponthieux, All Rights Reserved. iv This thesis is dedicated to my mother, and to everyone (most especially my stepmother), who were so kind and gave so much time and effort to try and fill some part of the void created by my mother’s passing. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Batman, the Batman logo, and all likenesses & reproductions thereof used in this thesis, are the Copyrights and Trademarks of DC Comics, Inc., 2021, and are used under the claim of Fair Use for scholarship purposes, as provided for under section 107 of the Copyright Law of the United States (https://www.copyright.gov/title17). To my children, thank you for your patience and support. Yes, even dads go back to school. To my grad school classmates and teachers, thank you for your tolerance and encouragement. To the committee that reviewed this thesis, thank you for your valuable time and consideration. To Dr. Socha, thank you for your guidance and wisdom. To NASA, thank you for the influence of your pioneering spirit. To Bruce Wayne, thanks for the inspiration. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF PLATES ...........................................................................................................................x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1 1.1 SOCIETY’S NEED FOR NARRATIVE....................................................................2 1.2 CONSTRAINTS UPON NARRATIVE PERPETUATION ......................................2 1.3 THE PROBLEM OF MYTH ......................................................................................4 1.4 RESEARCH STATEMENT .......................................................................................8 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................................................10 2.1 THE GENERATIONAL CONSTRAINT ................................................................11 2.2 MIMETIC NARRATIVE .........................................................................................14 2.3 SEMIOTIC MYTH ...................................................................................................16 2.4 THE CATALYST OF BELIEF ................................................................................23 2.5 SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................30 3. MYTH CONTEXT RECEPTION MODEL ..............................................................................33 3.1 PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE MODEL ..............................................33 3.2 ANTECEDENTS TO MYTH CONTEXT ...............................................................35 3.3 MYTH CONTEXT ...................................................................................................39 3.4 INDICATORS OF MYTH CONTEXT ....................................................................70 3.5 LIFESPAN OF MYTH CONTEXT .........................................................................81 3.6 IDENTIFICATION OF MYTH ................................................................................95 4. EXEMPLAR ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................110 4.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................110 4.2 CLASSICAL MYTH ..............................................................................................110 4.3 SANTA CLAUS .....................................................................................................120 4.4 BATMAN ...............................................................................................................130 4.5 REVIEW .................................................................................................................163 vii Page 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................167 5.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................167 5.2 DISCUSSION .........................................................................................................168 5.3 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................175 5.4 LIMITATIONS .......................................................................................................179 5.5 FUTURE RESEARCH ...........................................................................................180 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................184 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................207 A. FIGURES ................................................................................................................207 B. SURVEY.................................................................................................................210 VITA ............................................................................................................................................212 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Batman Audience Response Descriptive Statistics...................................................................154 2. Batman Audience Response Statistics......................................................................................156 3. Batman Audience Response ANOVA......................................................................................157 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Erik Erikson’s Stages of The Life Cycle....................................................................................88 2. Myth Identification Procedure Flowchart.................................................................................106