TCS Talk | Mythic Discourse Analysis: A Semiotic Approach | February 24th 2023

G.01, 50 George Square, Edinburgh |  18:00-19:30 (roughly)
Friday 24th February

King Gylfi gets himself beguiled. From the 18th century Icelandic manuscript SÁM 66 in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland.
image: Wikimedia Commons

For our first event of 2023, we have decided to go back to our roots: hailing from the University of Helsinki, Mr Frog will address the members and friends of the Society with a talk that engages directly with the structural foundations of myth as a discourse.

Here is the abstract Mr Frog circulated in preparation for the talk, which the Society will host in association with the University of Edinburgh Temporality Research Cluster: “Mythology and narrative traditions are found around the world. Our ability to recognize and categorize these even when translated across languages reflects their structuring and operation according to basic sets of features. This is comparable to all languages having lexemes of different classifications that combine according to rules of a grammar, and all languages operating in societies, leading their varieties to be linked to social identities, relative evaluations, other sign systems or media, and so forth. In this talk, I will introduce a semiotic approach to mythology that is also applicable to narrative discourse generally.

The framework has been developed to analyse ‘mythic discourse’, i.e. mythology as it is used, manipulated, and transmitted in society. It thus provides tools not only for approaching mythologies as ideal systems, but especially for approaching variation, hybridizations when different mythologies interact or encounter modernity, and also referential usage and reinvention. Many illustrations will come from Scandinavian mythology and medieval literature, others will be drawn from Finnic traditions, and some will also be taken from current Western popular entertainment and conspiracy discourse.”

As always, attendance is free but donations will be accepted at the door. If you wish to attend, please register yourself through the Eventbrite page of the event.