The Politics of Myth

Stephen Knight
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The Politics of Myth

Published

1 October 2015

ISBN

9780522868449

Ebook File Size

2.8MB

Imprint

Melbourne University Press

The Politics of Myth

Stephen Knight
Mythical figures are more than fantasy: they have their own politics. They dramatise issues of social importance and they can change to interpret new contexts and concerns.
In The Politics of Myth, Stephen Knight studies nine figures still vividly alive, all of them appearing in twenty-first century film and television. Analysing how they relate to the major themes of Power, Resistance and Knowledge, he shows how fact and fiction mix to help us explore and understand the complexities of our world.
Surprising mythic shifts occur across time. Robin Hood can be a tough anti-authoritarian, a genial aristocrat, a Saxon patriot; Queen Elizabeth I has been seen as a Protestant heroine, a love-lorn lady, even a grumpy manipulator. From Merlin's multiple manifestations and Sherlock Holmes's smoking habits to the ongoing arguments about Ned Kelly, this book explores the richness and the range of figures of myth.
In The Politics of Myth, Stephen Knight studies nine figures still vividly alive, all of them appearing in twenty-first century film and television. Analysing how they relate to the major themes of Power, Resistance and Knowledge, he shows how fact and fiction mix to help us explore and understand the complexities of our world.
Surprising mythic shifts occur across time. Robin Hood can be a tough anti-authoritarian, a genial aristocrat, a Saxon patriot; Queen Elizabeth I has been seen as a Protestant heroine, a love-lorn lady, even a grumpy manipulator. From Merlin's multiple manifestations and Sherlock Holmes's smoking habits to the ongoing arguments about Ned Kelly, this book explores the richness and the range of figures of myth.

This engaging study traces the evolving role of mythic figures and illuminates their centrality to the modern world.”
Michelle De Kretser

Stephen Knight

Stephen Knight

Stephen Knight is a professor of literature who worked for twenty-five years at the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, becoming well known as an international scholar of the byways of literature, such as medieval romance and modern crime fiction. His published works include The Politics of Myth (2015) and Australian Crime Fiction: A 200-Year History (2018). He is now an honorary professor at the University of Melbourne.

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