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Claret, Anne-Bénédicte

University of British Columbia

The term “myth” has often become synonymous with falsehood, fiction, or outdated beliefs. Yet such a definition fails to encompass the foundational and ever current role played by myths in shaping the values, ideologies, and worldviews of the cultures from which they originate. Following from a Barthesian understanding of myth, this dissertation explores the representation of myths in novels by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, namely American Gods, Neverwhere, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (by Gaiman); Mort, Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, and Carpe Jugulum (by Pratchett); and Good Omens (co-authored by Gaiman and Pratchett). My argument postulates that these two authors’ interpretation and instrumentalization of myth is evidence not only of the relevance of myth for contemporary concerns, but also of the possibilities to be found, in fantasy, for reconceptualized and non-universalizing representations of myth. Through a comparative, critical analysis of the ways in which these novels articulate mythical constructs of space, time, and gender, this dissertation examines the tension at play between the reiteration of and the challenge to essentialized expressions of myth in the works Gaiman and Pratchett. I argue that at the heart of Gaiman’s and Pratchett’s instrumentalizations of myth lies an emphasis on the importance of interconnectedness, interdependence, and individual agency in the formation and constant reconfiguration of human worldviews.

Text

2024-12-09

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89806

Interdisciplinary Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/