RATIONAL MYTHOS AND IRRATIONAL LOGOS: THE NARRATIVE FORMS OF CHINA’S ‘SHE’ PEOPLE

Yıl 2015, Cilt: 3 , 25 - 37, 01.09.2015

Yan Saı

Öz

This article considers the myths of China’s She people in the light of
the distinction made by western mythographers between mythos and logos.  In the analysis of ancient Greek myths, mythos
and logos have been seen as standing for irrational and rational
elements, respectively. Within the Chinese education system, however, myths and
history are not rigorously separated, and people believe that myths tell of
real events that happened in prehistoric times. 
By examining my collections of She narrative epics and graphic
depictions of these stories, I will suggest that the association of logos with
the rational and mythos with the irrational is reversed in the She case,
and that the effective transmission of the epics down the generations has
required the adoption of rational elements to the oral tradition or mythos, whilst
the sacred or irrational component of the stories is preserved in the graphic
depictions or logos.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Myth, logo, she ethnic group, epic

Kaynakça

• Boas, Franz. (1898) “Introduction” to James Teit, “Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia,” Memories of American Folklore Society. Cruz, Laura and Frijhoff, Willem. (Eds.) (2009) Introduction: Myth in history, history in myth, Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Society for Netherlandic History New York: June 5-6, 2006. Myth in History, History in Myth Leiden; Boston : Brill. Ellen, R. F. (1986) ‘What Black Elk left unsaid: on the illusory images of Green primitivism’, Anthropology Today 2. Fowler, H.W. and Fowler, F. G. (1995). The Concise Oxford dictionary of current English, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Herodotus. (1987). The History, Chicago; London : University of Chicago Press. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. (1973). Totemism, Harmondsworth: Penguin. ————. (1963). Structural anthropology vol.1, New York: Basic Books. ————. (1963). Structural anthropology vol.2, New York: Basic Books. ————. (1978). Myth and meaning, London (etc.): Routledge and Kegan Paul. Nevena Dimitrova, Prague. (2013). From Logos to ‘Dialogos’: the Problem of Ignorance and the ‘Dialogical’ Knowledge According to St. Maximus the Confessor. Communio viatorum. Malcolm M. Willcock. (1976). A Companion to The Iliad, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Milton, Kay. (1996). Environmentalism and cultural theory: exploring the role of anthropology in environmental discourse. London: Routledge, 1996. Pang, Jin (2007). Chinese Phoenix Culture. Chongqin: Chongqing Press. 庞进：《中国凤文化》，重庆：重庆出版社，2007年。 Vernant, Jean-Pierre. (1980). Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Brighton : Harvester Press ; Atlantic Highlands, N.J. : Humanities Press. Ying, Zhao, Trans. Wang Liqi (2010). General Discussion about Customs, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. 应劭著，王利器校注：《风俗通义•佚文》，北京：中华书局，2010年。 Zhejiang Ethnic Affairs Commission. (1992). Gao Guang Song of She Group, Beijing: China Radio & Television Publishing House. 浙江省民族事务委员会编：《畲族高皇歌》，北京：中国广播电视出版社，1992年9月版。 Zhong, Jingwen. (1990). Discussion about Epics, Study of Gelsall, Gansu: Gansu Ethnic Press. 钟敬文：《史诗略论》，见赵秉理编：《格萨尔学集成》（第一卷），甘肃民族出版社，1990年12月。