The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth (American Lectures on the History of Religions) - Softcover

Doniger, Wendy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231111711 ISBN 13: 9780231111713

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Finding in the world's myths -- its sacred stories -- a way to talk about experiences shared across time and space, Doniger champions the cause of comparative mythology as she expertly taps a wealth of traditions -- from the Hebrew Bible to the Bhagavad Gita.

About this title

Review:

A timely meditation on what comparative studies might mean.... The Implied Spider wrestles with the problems of carrying out the kind of study represented by Splitting the Difference--a cross-cultural comparison of different stories from different areas of the world, different tribes, different languages.--Margaret Anne Doody "London Review of Books "

This is a racy, enjoyable book.... Deriving from Plato an understanding of myth as both truth and lie, Wendy Doniger brings to her study a wealth of story and folklore from many different traditions, exploring creatively the enduring role of myth through time and across cultures.--Alwyn Marriage "Theological Book Review "

In these creative, often dazzling displays of erudition and insight, Wendy Doniger gives a ceaselessly engaged and always subject-filled view of myth. Another gem in the string of gems that mark Doniger's scholarly productivity.--Bruce Lawrence, Duke University

An entertaining and highly accessible look at how myths reveal what is common to all humanity.--Parabola

A book that is particularly worthy of the attention of readers in religious studies beyond the history of religions. Since it is Doniger's most methodological book, The Implied Spider is important, not for its analysis of myths, but for the arguments that it makes in support of the comparative study of myths.--Religious Studies Review

Synopsis:

In this text, the author shows how to make sense of, and learn from, the diversity of past and present cultures. Drawing on traditions ranging from the Hebrew Bible to the "Bhagavad Gita", Doniger examines other cultures and finds in the world's myths a way to talk about experiences shared across time and space. Doniger shows that myths bridge the cosmic and the familiar, the personal and the abstract, the human and the divine, and that they do so for all cultures. Myths are the tales that are told to bring meaning to life, answer mysteries of birth, death and creation, and good and evil. The author demonstrates how studying myths from cultures other than our own can be exhilarating and illuminating. Even if scholars such as Freud, Jung and Joseph Campbell typically overstated the universality of major myths and suppressed the distinctive natures of other cultures, postmodern critics are wrong to argue that nothing good can come from a systematic comparative study of human cultures. Doniger shows how to critically and responsibly compare stories - or texts or myths or traditions - from different cultures by revealing patterns of truth from themes that recur repeatedly.

She enables the reader to see the "implied spider" that weaves the web of meaning that sustains all human cultures - the fabric of our shared humanity.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0231111711
• ISBN 13: 9780231111713
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212