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While Joseph Campbell (who was not an actual “expert in the field” for most of what he wrote about) has a big reputation among the public because he wrote books
by Mediterraneo10 5y ago
While Joseph Campbell (who was not an actual “expert in the field” for most of what he wrote about) has a big reputation among the public because he wrote books directed towards a popular audience, and e.g. George Lucas's praise of his work for Star Wars guaranteed him renown, he is not taken very seriously by actual specialists on folklore and anthropology. IMO, citing him does more harm than good.
- drknownuffin 5y agoMy understanding from my readings in the field of mythology is that the parent post is precisely correct: Campbell was an enthusiastic amateur who did a whole bunch of cherry-picking to suit his passionate holding-forth on the topics, but without systematic study. If he was alive today, he (still) wouldn't be a PhD, but he'd have a YT channel, a vigorously active twitter page, and maybe have penned a couple of D&D modules.
- turadg 5y agoWhat authors or works would you recommend instead?
- gen220 5y agoThe difficulty with folklore is that it’s so intensely regional and period-specific, and that no real “canon” exists for most regions and times, especially when you’re reaching back into pre-christianity folklore. This is the mistake that Campbell made. He thought you could unify folklore with some psychological frameworks. But you can’t, unless you’re employing gratuitous selection bias, which he did. So it depends what you’re interested in! I’ve personally found it most fun to find some culture I’m incidentally connected to, with a long literary history, and try to find the earliest transcriptions and translations of stories that I can. If you’re interested in some region and time in particular, somebody here can probably help get you started.
- drknownuffin 5y agoI second this statement. Russian Folk Belief by Ivanits is a good one.