TY - JOUR T1 - RELIGIOUS MYTH CRITICISM IN MYTHOPOEIC FANTASY LITERATURE: TERRY PRATCHETT’ SMALL GODS (1992) TT - MİTOPOEİK FANTASTİK EDEBİYATTA DİNSEL MİT ELEŞTİRİSİ: TERRY PRATCHETT’IN KÜÇÜK TANRILAR (1992) ROMANI AU - Soygül, Tuğçe PY - 2025 DA - November Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.30794/pausbed.1711726 JF - Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi JO - PAUSBED PB - Pamukkale University WT - DergiPark SN - 1308-2922 SP - 427 EP - 445 IS - 71 LA - en AB - Fantasy literature, particularly in its mythopoeic mode, is a modern literary form rooted in ancient myth-making, reconfiguring traditional narratives to engage with contemporary concerns. Rather than reinforcing myth’s original function in pre-modern societies, this narrative mode transforms established mythic structures into symbolic frameworks for critique. This study, therefore, analyses Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods (1992) as a representative work of mythopoeic fantasy, drawing on Mircea Eliade’s theories of religious myth criticism to examine how the novel deconstructs religious dogma and exposes mechanisms, sustaining belief through revisionist myth-making. Building on Eliade’s conception of myth as a sacred framework, the analysis explores how Pratchett reimagines sacred geography, divine authority, and the institutionalisation of myth and religion as human constructs shaped by belief rather than expressions of transcendent truth. The novel thus subverts the relationship between myth and religion within the Discworld universe, offering a critical lens on the socio-political function of religious systems. KW - Mythopoeic fantasy KW - Terry Pratchett KW - Small Gods KW - religious myth criticism KW - Mircea Eliade KW - Discworld Universe N2 - Fantastik edebiyat, özellikle mitopoeik türüyle, antik mit yaratımına dayanan modern bir anlatı biçimidir ve geleneksel anlatıları çağdaş sorunlarla etkileşime girecek şekilde yeniden kurgular. Mitin ilkel toplumlarda üstlendiği özgün işlevi yeniden üretmek yerine, bu anlatı tarzı yerleşik mitsel yapıları eleştirel ve simgesel çerçeveler halinde dönüştürür. Bu çalışma, Terry Pratchett’ın Küçük Tanrılar (1992) adlı romanını mitopoeik fantastik edebiyatın öne çıkan bir örneği olarak incelemekte ve eserin dinsel dogmayı nasıl sorguladığını, inancı sürdüren yapıları nasıl gözler önüne serdiğini Mircea Eliade’ın dinsel mit eleştirisine dayanan kuramsal yaklaşımı çerçevesinde ele almaktadır. Eliade’ın miti kutsal olan ile dünyevi olan arasındaki ilişkiyi kuran bir yapı olarak yorumlamasına dayanan analiz, Pratchett’ın kutsal coğrafyayı, ilahi otoriteyi ve mit ile dinin kurumsallaşmasını aşkın hakikatlerden ziyade inanca dayalı insan yapıları olarak nasıl yeniden tasarladığını ortaya koyar. Roman böylece Diskdünya evreninde mit ile din arasındaki ilişkiyi ters yüz eder ve dinsel yapıların toplumsal ve politik işlevlerine eleştirel bir perspektif sunar. CR - Allan, S. (1991). The shape of the turtle: Myth, art, and cosmos in early China. State University of New York Press. CR - Allen, D. (2002). Myth and religion in Mircea Eliade. Routledge. CR - Attebery, B. (1992). Strategies of fantasy. Indiana University Press. CR - Bould, M., Vint, S. (2012). Political readings. In E. James & F. Mendlesohn (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to fantasy literature (pp. 102–112). Cambridge University Press. CR - Brawley, C. (2014). Nature and the numinous in mythopoeic fantasy literature. 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