NOTES
- Lévi-Strauss , Claude . 1973 . Totemism , Edited by: Needham , Rodney . 177 Harmondsworth : Penguin University Books . In thus arguing that the study of Near Eastern myths must cease to claim for itself a special and protected status, I am saying something about this discipline very similar to what Lévi-Strauss writes about the study of religion generally: ‘If it is maintained that religion constitutes an autonomous order, requiring a special kind of investigation, it has to be removed from the common fate of objects of science. Religion…will inevitably appear, in the eyes of science, to be distinguished as no more than a sphere of confused ideas…. Conversely, if religious ideas are accorded the same value as any other conceptual system, as giving access to the mechanism of thought, the procedures of religious anthropology will acquire validity’
- Kirk , G.S. 1971 . Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures , Cambridge : Penguin University Books . There have, of course, been some methodological investigations into the study of the Near Eastern myths, especially in the past few years. I might mention here, a volume remarkable both for its judiciousness and for its boldness, though I cannot assent to Kirk's ultimately eclectic methods
- Petersen , David L. and Woodward , Mark . 1977 . Ugarit Forschungen , 9 : 233 – 248 . Also to be noted is a recent study entitled ‘Northwest Semitic religion: A study of relational structures’, by, This latter study mentions many of the same criticisms of functionalism which I note below
- Lévi-Strauss , Claude . 1963 . Structural Anthropology , Edited by: Jacobson , Claire and Schoepf , Brooke Grundfest . 88 – 89 . New York : Basic Books .
- Jarvie , I.C. 1965 . “ Limits of functionalism and alternatives to it in anthropology ” . In Functionalism in the Social Sciences , American Academy of Political and Social Science Monographs 5 Edited by: Martindale , Don . 19 Philadelphia : American Academy of Political and Social Science .
- Moore , Wilbert E. 1978 . “ Functionalism ” . In A History of Sociological Analysis , Edited by: Bottomore , Tom and Nisbet , Robert . 321 – 361 . New York : American Academy of Political and Social Science . For a lengthy and ultimately quite positive assessment of functionalism, see now
- Hempel , Carl G. 1965 . “ The logic of functional analysis ” . In Aspects of Scientific Explanation , 305 New York : Free Press .
- Malinowski , Bronislaw . 1954 . Magic, Science and Religion , revised edition , 46 Garden City : Doubleday Anchor .
- Malinowski , Bronislaw . 1954 . Magic, Science and Religion , revised edition , 89 Garden City : Doubleday Anchor .
- Malinowski , Bronislaw . 1954 . Magic, Science and Religion , revised edition , 101 Garden City : Doubleday Anchor .
- Leach , Edmund . 1974 . Lévi-Strauss , revised edition , 8 Glasgow : Fontana/Collins .
- Kirk , G.S. 1971 . Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures , 6 – 7 . Cambridge : Fontana/Collins . For a similar summary statement of the present assessment of functionalism, see, a volume remarkable both for its judiciousness and for its boldness, though I cannot assent to Kirk's ultimately eclectic methods, Again, it is because the criticisms of functionalism, some of which are reviewed below, are convincing, and not because functionalism is unfashionable, that the method needs to be either modified considerably or abandoned. That is to say, there are good reasons for the present low regard for this method.
- Jarvie , I.C. 1965 . “ Limits of functionalism and alternatives to it in anthropology ” . In Functionalism in the Social Sciences , American Academy of Political and Social Science Monographs 5 Edited by: Martindale , Don . 31 Philadelphia : American Academy of Political and Social Science .
- Poole , Robert C. 1973 . “ ‘Introduction’, to Lévi-Strauss ” . In Totemism , Edited by: Needham , Rodney . 40 Harmondsworth : Penguin University Books .
- Sperber , Dan . 1975 . “ Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology ” . In Rethinking Symbolism , Edited by: Morton , Alice L. 8 – 9 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . Cf. Sperber's statement of a similar problem with regard to a functionalist interpretation of myth on p. 6. Kirk (Myth, pp. 12–31) offers a clear account of the discussion of the relationship between myth and ritual. Briefly, the boldest statements of the myth-ritual school are regarded today both as impossible to substantiate, and, more significantly, as not carrying with them anything of explanatory significance.
- 1969 . Theories of myth . Man , NS 4 : 345 Cf. Percy S. Cohen's objection that ‘the chief weakness of most sociological theories of myth is that they do not really explain why the social function of myth should be performed by myth and not by some other device’:, The observations of both Sperber and Cohen here were anticipated by Lévi-Strauss: ‘Some claim that human societies merely express, through their mythology, fundamental feelings common to the whole of mankind….But why should these societies do it in such elaborate and devious ways, when all of them are also acquainted with empirical explanations?’ (Structural Anthropology), p. 207.
- Hempel . “ ‘The logic of functional analysis’ ” . 297 – 330 .
- Penner , Hans H. 1975 . “ Creating a Brahman: A structural approach to religion ” . In Methodological Issues in Religious Studies , Edited by: Baird , Robert D. 55 – 59 . Chico, California : New Horizon Press . (d) (Hence), at t, trait i is present in s This explanation ‘involves the fallacy of affirming the consequent in regard to premise (c)’, and it ‘fails to explain why the trait i rather than one of its alternatives is present in s at t’ (p. 310)., For a clear description of Hempel's argument, and a comprehensive discussion of the attempts to revise the argument, see, Anyone familiar with Penner's article will recognize my heavy reliance upon it in the above paragraph.
- Lévi-Strauss , Claude . 1975 . The Raw and the Cooked: Introduction to a Science of Mythology , Edited by: John and Weightman , Doreen . Vol. I , 332 New York : Harper Colophon .
- Lévi-Strauss , Claude . 1967 . “ The story of Asdiwal ” . In The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism , A.S.A. Monographs 4 Edited by: Leach , Edmund . 10 – 11 . 29 – 30 . London : Tavistock .
- Lévi-Strauss , Claude . 1976 . Structural Anthropology , Edited by: Layton , Monique . Volume II , 155 – 156 . 172 – 173 . New York : Tavistock .
- Thomas , L.L. , Kronenfeld , J.Z. and Kronenfeld , D.B. 1976 . Asdiwal crumbles: a critique of Lévi-Straussian myth analysis . American Ethnologist , 3 : 147 – 173 . The most extensive critique of Lévi-Strauss's ‘The Story of Asdiwal’ is that of
- Thomas , L.L. , Kronenfeld , J.Z. and Kronenfeld , D.B. 1974 . Kinship vis-à-vis myth: Contrasts in Lévi-Strauss' approaches to cross-cultural comparison . American Anthropologist , 76 : 810 There is hardly opportunity here for a lengthy discussion of this critique. However, it might be noted briefly that Thomas, Kronenfeld and Kronenfeld are wrong in their implicit assumption that a system of kinship is, for Lévi-Strauss, a system of actual behaviour. For a structuralist, as James A. Boon and David M, Schneider note, ‘societies do not have patrilateral or matrilateral systems; rather groups or parts of groups reveal ideas of such marriages which might be carried out to various extents…marriage rules are not laws, rather norms. And norms are normative, not actual’.
- Strenski , Ivan . 1974 . Falsifying deep structures . Man NS , 9 : 571 – 584 . For an excellent, and critical, theoretical discussion of Lévi-Strauss, see
- Jacobsen , Thorkild . 1976 . The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion , 3 New Haven and London : Yale University Press . An example may be Jacobsen's continued utilization of the terminology of Otto, even in his recent works: see
- Helfer , James S. , ed. 1968 . “ On Method in the History of Religions ” . In History and Theory , 4 Middletown, Conn : Yale University Press . The best description of Otto's position with which I am familiar is that of Helfer: ‘This stance constitutes a Protestant polemic against all forms of religious knowledge and experience which do not, in content as well as structure, recapitulate Otto's own…. His position is the reductio ad absurdum of methodologically solipsistic apriorism’, Beiheft 8
- Jacobsen , Thorkild . 1970 . “ Primitive democracy in ancient Mesopotamia ” . In Toward the Image of Tammuz , Harvard Semitic Series Edited by: Moran , William L. Vol. 21 , 169 Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press . originally published in
- 1943 . Journal of Near Eastern Studies , 2 : 159 – 172 .
- Jacobsen , Thorkild . “ ‘Early political development in Mesopotamia’ ” . In Toward the Image of Tammuz 137
- 1957 . Zeitschrift für Assyriologie , 52 : 91 – 140 . originally published in
- Evans , Geoffrey . 1958 . Ancient Mesopotamian assemblies . JAOS , 78 : 1 For examples of the continued reference to Jacobsen's primitive democracy model, see
- Hallo , William W. and Simpson , William Kelly . 1971 . The Ancient Near East: A History , 42 – 43 . New York : Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich .
- 1976 . Ancient Iraq , 105 Harmondsworth : Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich . (in this latter work there is the recognition that the model is ‘reconstructed in part from later mythology’). Georges Roux argues that there are problems with the model, but accurately observes that the theory is ‘still widely accepted in the United States’:, As noted above, this is much more the case among biblical scholars than it is among Assyriologists.
- 1967 . Early Mesopotamian constitutional development . American Historical Review , 72 : 1213
- Lévi-Strauss . “ The story of Asdiwal ” . 30 Cf. op. cit.
- Structural Anthropology , II 173
- 1965 . The Legacy of Canaan, SVT , 2d edition , Vol. 5 , Leiden : E.J. Brill . I refer to his
- 1964 . The Krt Text in the Literature of Ras Shamra: A Social Myth of Ancient Canaan , 2d edition , Leiden : E.J. Brill . and to
- Pontenrose , Joseph . 1966 . The Ritual Theory of Myth , University of California Folklore Studies Vol. 18 , 54 – 55 . Berkeley : E.J. Brill . Note the subtitle of the latter work. Gray, in common with many others, does attempt to make some distinction between saga or legend and myth (see, e.g., The Krt Text, pp. 4–5). However, I would argue that in the present state of the discussion of this issue, we are on the firmest ground in labelling as a myth any traditional narrative which deals with the activities of superhuman beings, and thus that the Keret tale, like the tales of Baal or Aqhat, is a myth. Cf. the definition of myth formulated by
- Kirk . Myth , 31 – 41 . and the discussion of myths and folktales in
- Blythin , Islwyn . 1970 . Magic and Methodology . Numen , 17 : 45 – 59 . Ibid., p. 13. A fine and critical discussion of Gray's functionalism, which bears upon the statement of Gray just cited, is, A particular virtue of Blythin's study is his observation that some of the views of earlier anthropologists, especially Frazer, have become ‘deeply entrenched in Old Testament study’ (p. 53).
- Gray , John . The Krt Text , 4 op. cit., Cf. Gray's similar statement about the Keret tale in 32e Legac!: of Canaan, op. cit., p. 17.
- Leach , E.R. 1961 . “ Rethinking Anthropology ” . In London School of Economics Monographs on Social Anthropology , Vol. 22 , 65 London : Athlone Press .
- Oden , Robert A. Jr . 1979 . “The contendings of Horus and Seth” (Pap. Chester Beatty I): A structural interpretation . History of Religions , 18 Spring
- Griffiths , J.Gwyn . 1960 . “ The Conflict of Horus and Seth, from Egyptian and Classical Sources ” . In Liverpool Monographs in Archaeology and Oriental Studies , vii Liverpool : Liverpool University Press .
- Boon and Schneider . “ ‘Kinship vis-a-vis myth’ ” . 814 op. cit., cf. Levi-Strauss's own similar statement, cited above (note 15).
- Lévi-Strauss . The Raw and the Cooked 10 op. cit.,