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The Productions of TimeA Study of the Human Imagination |
eBook Available
A wide-ranging exploration of myth, literature, society, and their relationship with the human imagination.
Myth criticism flourished in the mid-twentieth century under the powerful influence of Canadian thinker Northrop Frye. It asserted the need to identify common, unifying patterns in literature, arts, and religion. Although it was eclipsed by postmodern theories that asserted difference and conflict, those theories proved incapable of inspiring solidarity or guiding social action. The Productions of Time argues for a return to myth criticism in order to refine and extend its vision.
With the aim of rehabilitating myth criticism for our time, Michael Dolzani sketches an anatomy of the imagination as demonstrated in the total body of its productions, including literature, mythology, the arts, popular culture, and religious and political texts. Dolzani situates a vast panoply of images, character types, plot structures, themes, and genres to better understand their purposes, their recurrences across broad spans of history, and their interrelations. Illustrating the relationship between mythology and history, The Productions of Time proposes a symbolic language as a way of enabling dialogue across ideological and individual differences.
Arguing for the ethical and intellectual necessity of conceiving a unifying pattern that transcends differences, The Productions of Time demonstrates that imagination is part of the human inheritance, common to all, not just to poets and mystics.
With the aim of rehabilitating myth criticism for our time, Michael Dolzani sketches an anatomy of the imagination as demonstrated in the total body of its productions, including literature, mythology, the arts, popular culture, and religious and political texts. Dolzani situates a vast panoply of images, character types, plot structures, themes, and genres to better understand their purposes, their recurrences across broad spans of history, and their interrelations. Illustrating the relationship between mythology and history, The Productions of Time proposes a symbolic language as a way of enabling dialogue across ideological and individual differences.
Arguing for the ethical and intellectual necessity of conceiving a unifying pattern that transcends differences, The Productions of Time demonstrates that imagination is part of the human inheritance, common to all, not just to poets and mystics.
Details
468 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780228005582
February 2021
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"Dolzani engages big questions, and his provocative book should prove richly heuristic. Highly recommended." Choice
Michael Dolzani is professor in the Department of English at Baldwin Wallace University.
Acknowledgments ix
Editions Cited xi
Overture: Concerning Mandala Symbolism: The Symbol with and without Meaning xiii
Introduction: The State of Criticism at the Present Time 3
PART ONE FIRST THERE IS A MOUNTAIN: THE VERTICAL AXIS ASCENDING
I Revelation, or Imagination 25
II Emanation 84
III Creation 94
IV Scripture as Creation 104
V “Our Great Salvation from Above”: Traditional Mythology and the Point of Transcendence 115
PART TWO THERE IS A SEASON: THE CYCLE
I Paradise 127
II The Fall 139
III The Fallen World of Cyclical Time: Law and Sacrifice 143
IV Tragedy 178
V Comedy 191
VI The Form of Drama 207
PART THREE THE EYE BEGINS TO SEE: THE HORIZONTAL AXIS
I The Affirmation of the Cycle 213
II The Progressive Vision 218
III What the Hammer? The Forge of Language 222
IV The Ironic Cycle and the Clarification of Vision 227
V The Recreation of Evolution: Hunting Cultures 231
VI The Recreation of Evolution: Gathering and Planting Cultures 235
VII The Mythology of Urban Civilization and Empire 239
VIII The Progressive Vision of the Bible: The Trickster God 242
IX The Progressive Vision of the Bible: Letter and Spirit 245
X The Progressive Vision of the Bible: Typology 246
XI The Progressive Vision in Classical Mythology 249
XII The Middle Ages and Renaissance: Romantic and Spiritual Heroes 258
XIII Shakespearean Tragicomedy or Romance 265
XIV Summary and Prelude: The Historical Nexus of Romanticism 267
XV In the White Giant’s Thigh: Romantic and Anti-Romantic 272
XVI Prometheus Agonistes: German Idealism and Marxism 297
XVII Romantic Internalization 310
XVIII The Novel: The Realistic Horizontal 317
XIX The Historical Novel and Science Fiction 323
XX The Novel as Epic 329
XXI The Lyric as Epic 330
PART FOUR YOU WANT IT DARKER: THE VERTICAL AXIS DESCENDING
I Decreation and the Descent Quest 333
II Decreative Realism 341
III Creative Non-fiction: Surface and Depth 344
IV The Lyric: Surface and Depth 346
V The Decreation Myth of Language 350
VI The Otherworld: Traditional and Dark Romance 366
VII The Sublime 376
VIII The Urban Otherworld 378
IX The Demonic: The Principle of Negation 382
X The Pluralistic Afterlife 385
XI Nothing 387
XII Reversal 389
XIII Satire and Apocalypse 391
XIV Satire, Laughter, and the Redemption of Time 397
Notes 405
Index 435
Editions Cited xi
Overture: Concerning Mandala Symbolism: The Symbol with and without Meaning xiii
Introduction: The State of Criticism at the Present Time 3
PART ONE FIRST THERE IS A MOUNTAIN: THE VERTICAL AXIS ASCENDING
I Revelation, or Imagination 25
II Emanation 84
III Creation 94
IV Scripture as Creation 104
V “Our Great Salvation from Above”: Traditional Mythology and the Point of Transcendence 115
PART TWO THERE IS A SEASON: THE CYCLE
I Paradise 127
II The Fall 139
III The Fallen World of Cyclical Time: Law and Sacrifice 143
IV Tragedy 178
V Comedy 191
VI The Form of Drama 207
PART THREE THE EYE BEGINS TO SEE: THE HORIZONTAL AXIS
I The Affirmation of the Cycle 213
II The Progressive Vision 218
III What the Hammer? The Forge of Language 222
IV The Ironic Cycle and the Clarification of Vision 227
V The Recreation of Evolution: Hunting Cultures 231
VI The Recreation of Evolution: Gathering and Planting Cultures 235
VII The Mythology of Urban Civilization and Empire 239
VIII The Progressive Vision of the Bible: The Trickster God 242
IX The Progressive Vision of the Bible: Letter and Spirit 245
X The Progressive Vision of the Bible: Typology 246
XI The Progressive Vision in Classical Mythology 249
XII The Middle Ages and Renaissance: Romantic and Spiritual Heroes 258
XIII Shakespearean Tragicomedy or Romance 265
XIV Summary and Prelude: The Historical Nexus of Romanticism 267
XV In the White Giant’s Thigh: Romantic and Anti-Romantic 272
XVI Prometheus Agonistes: German Idealism and Marxism 297
XVII Romantic Internalization 310
XVIII The Novel: The Realistic Horizontal 317
XIX The Historical Novel and Science Fiction 323
XX The Novel as Epic 329
XXI The Lyric as Epic 330
PART FOUR YOU WANT IT DARKER: THE VERTICAL AXIS DESCENDING
I Decreation and the Descent Quest 333
II Decreative Realism 341
III Creative Non-fiction: Surface and Depth 344
IV The Lyric: Surface and Depth 346
V The Decreation Myth of Language 350
VI The Otherworld: Traditional and Dark Romance 366
VII The Sublime 376
VIII The Urban Otherworld 378
IX The Demonic: The Principle of Negation 382
X The Pluralistic Afterlife 385
XI Nothing 387
XII Reversal 389
XIII Satire and Apocalypse 391
XIV Satire, Laughter, and the Redemption of Time 397
Notes 405
Index 435
