Research Article
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Year 2025, Volume: 45 Issue: 1, 240 - 261, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763

Abstract

References

  • Demir, G. Y. (2013). Önsöz. Mit ve anlam (G. Y. Demir, Trans., pp. 1–29). İthaki. google scholar
  • Dolin, S. (1993). Enjambment and the Erotics of the Gaze in Williams’s Poetry. American Imago, 50(1), 29–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 26303887 google scholar
  • Glück, L. (2007). Averno: Poems. Macmillan [e-book]. google scholar
  • Hickey‐Moody, A. C. (2008). Performing new spaces: the theatre of urban. Critical Studies in Education, 49(2), 199–203. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17508480802072939 google scholar
  • Kapach, A. (2023, March 9). Persephone. Mythopedia. https://mythopedia.com/topics/persephone google scholar
  • Levi-Strauss, C. (1955). The structural study of myth. Journal of American Folklore, 68(270), 428. https://doi.org/10.2307/536768 google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural anthropology (C. Jakobson & B. Grundfest Schoepf, Trans.). Basic Books. google scholar
  • Levi-Strauss, C. (1965). The future of kinship studies. Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 13. https://doi.org/10.2307/3031752 google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The raw and the cooked (J. Weightman & D. Weightman, Trans.; Vol. 1). Harper&Row. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2005). Myth and meaning. Routledge. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2013a). Mit ve anlam (G. Y. Demir, Trans.). İthaki. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2013b). Anthropology confronts the problems of the modern world (J. M. Todd, Trans.). The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C., & Jakobson, R. (1962). Charles Baudelaire’s ‘Les Chats’*. postcolonial.net. Retrieved January 26, 2025, from https:// postcolonial.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/StructurlismExampleessay.pdf google scholar
  • Melito, I. M. (1964). The Literary myth-makers. The English Journal, 53(3), 165–169. https://doi.org/10.2307/810563 google scholar
  • Morris, D. (2006). The poetry of Louise Glück: A thematic introduction. University of Missouri. google scholar
  • Ricoeur, P. (1976). Interpretation theory: Discourse and the surplus of meaning. The Texas Christian University Press. google scholar
  • Rumsey, A., & Layton, R. (1986). Saussure in Australia? Man, 21(4), 743–745. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2802907 google scholar
  • Tuncbilek, Ş. S., (2024). Sociologizing Hau: Translation of Maussian concepts into Bourdieu’s theory of practice. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Dergisi, 44, 239-256. https://doi.org/10.26 google scholar
  • Wiseman, B. (Ed.). (2009). The local and the universal. In E. Eric Schwimmer, The Cambridge companion to Lévi-Strauss (pp. 167–185). Cambridge University Press. google scholar

Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss

Year 2025, Volume: 45 Issue: 1, 240 - 261, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763

Abstract

This study aims to present a structuralist analysis of the Persephone myth in Louise Glück’s poem “A Myth of Innocence.” The analysis applies Claude Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist theory of myth, which explains myths as systems of meaning that operate through binary oppositions and structural mediation. Using key tools from the structuralist methodology, including the identification of binary oppositions, the use of mythemes, and the role of mediating elements, the study explores how Glück reconfigures the traditional myth to dramatise personal and collective transformation. The poem reframes Persephone’s descent into the underworld not simply as an act of abduction but as a symbolic negotiation between innocence and experience, passivity and agency, and surface and depth. Innocence is portrayed not as a static state but as a temporary phase, while knowledge and transformation emerge through internal and structural conflict. Formally, the poem mirrors this dynamic by simulating the logic of myth along a syntagmatic axis, particularly through the sequencing of thematic and narrative contrasts. Glück’s manipu lation of poetic structure, including enjambment, repetition, and rhyme variation, supports the underlying mythic logic. This study finds that Glück’s poem does not merely retell a classical narrative but exposes how myth continues to function as a system of signification in modern literary contexts. This analysis contributes to myth criticism and contemporary poetry studies by demonstrating the applicability of structuralist theory to modern poetic texts and by offering insight into how contemporary literature engages with, transforms, and simulates classical mythic structures for new expressive purposes.

References

  • Demir, G. Y. (2013). Önsöz. Mit ve anlam (G. Y. Demir, Trans., pp. 1–29). İthaki. google scholar
  • Dolin, S. (1993). Enjambment and the Erotics of the Gaze in Williams’s Poetry. American Imago, 50(1), 29–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 26303887 google scholar
  • Glück, L. (2007). Averno: Poems. Macmillan [e-book]. google scholar
  • Hickey‐Moody, A. C. (2008). Performing new spaces: the theatre of urban. Critical Studies in Education, 49(2), 199–203. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17508480802072939 google scholar
  • Kapach, A. (2023, March 9). Persephone. Mythopedia. https://mythopedia.com/topics/persephone google scholar
  • Levi-Strauss, C. (1955). The structural study of myth. Journal of American Folklore, 68(270), 428. https://doi.org/10.2307/536768 google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural anthropology (C. Jakobson & B. Grundfest Schoepf, Trans.). Basic Books. google scholar
  • Levi-Strauss, C. (1965). The future of kinship studies. Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 13. https://doi.org/10.2307/3031752 google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The raw and the cooked (J. Weightman & D. Weightman, Trans.; Vol. 1). Harper&Row. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2005). Myth and meaning. Routledge. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2013a). Mit ve anlam (G. Y. Demir, Trans.). İthaki. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C. (2013b). Anthropology confronts the problems of the modern world (J. M. Todd, Trans.). The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. google scholar
  • Lévi-Strauss, C., & Jakobson, R. (1962). Charles Baudelaire’s ‘Les Chats’*. postcolonial.net. Retrieved January 26, 2025, from https:// postcolonial.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/StructurlismExampleessay.pdf google scholar
  • Melito, I. M. (1964). The Literary myth-makers. The English Journal, 53(3), 165–169. https://doi.org/10.2307/810563 google scholar
  • Morris, D. (2006). The poetry of Louise Glück: A thematic introduction. University of Missouri. google scholar
  • Ricoeur, P. (1976). Interpretation theory: Discourse and the surplus of meaning. The Texas Christian University Press. google scholar
  • Rumsey, A., & Layton, R. (1986). Saussure in Australia? Man, 21(4), 743–745. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2802907 google scholar
  • Tuncbilek, Ş. S., (2024). Sociologizing Hau: Translation of Maussian concepts into Bourdieu’s theory of practice. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Dergisi, 44, 239-256. https://doi.org/10.26 google scholar
  • Wiseman, B. (Ed.). (2009). The local and the universal. In E. Eric Schwimmer, The Cambridge companion to Lévi-Strauss (pp. 167–185). Cambridge University Press. google scholar
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation and Social Impact Assessment
Journal Section RESEARCH ARTICLES
Authors

Enes Taşdelen

Publication Date June 30, 2025
Submission Date March 1, 2025
Acceptance Date May 14, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 45 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Taşdelen, E. (2025). Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology, 45(1), 240-261. https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763
AMA Taşdelen E. Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology. June 2025;45(1):240-261. doi:10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763
Chicago Taşdelen, Enes. “Louise Glück’s ‘A Myth of Innocence’ and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss”. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology 45, no. 1 (June 2025): 240-61. https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763.
EndNote Taşdelen E (June 1, 2025) Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology 45 1 240–261.
IEEE E. Taşdelen, “Louise Glück’s ‘A Myth of Innocence’ and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss”, İstanbul University Journal of Sociology, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 240–261, 2025, doi: 10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763.
ISNAD Taşdelen, Enes. “Louise Glück’s ‘A Myth of Innocence’ and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss”. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology 45/1 (June 2025), 240-261. https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763.
JAMA Taşdelen E. Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology. 2025;45:240–261.
MLA Taşdelen, Enes. “Louise Glück’s ‘A Myth of Innocence’ and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss”. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology, vol. 45, no. 1, 2025, pp. 240-61, doi:10.26650/SJ.2025.45.1.0763.
Vancouver Taşdelen E. Louise Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence” and the Myth of Persephone: A Structuralist Analysis through Lévi-Strauss. İstanbul University Journal of Sociology. 2025;45(1):240-61.