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Is Frankenstein a ‘modern myth’?
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QUIZ
• How old was Mary Godwin Shelley when she wrote Frankenstein?
• How many narrators does the novel have? • What was the first film adaptation of the story? • Who played ‘Frankenstein’ in James Whale’s 1931 film
version? • What show tune do Victor and the creature perform
together in Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein? • What is the name of Tim Burton’s animated cartoon version
of the story (2012) – and who are the two central characters?
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Answers• How old was Mary Godwin Shelley when she wrote
Frankenstein? (19; published when she was 21)• How many narrators does the novel have? (Three: Victor, the
creature and Captain Robert Walton, the explorer).• What was the first film adaptation of the story? (1910)• Who played ‘Frankenstein’ in James Whale’s 1931 film
version? (Colin Clive; Boris Karloff was the creature/monster)
• What show tune do Victor and the creature perform together in Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy? (Puttin’ on the Ritz)
• What is the name of Tim Burton’s animated cartoon version of the story (2012) – and who are the two central characters? (Frankenweenie; a boy and his [dead] dog).
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‘Frankenstein Food’ and other stories
• ‘One of the most important myths of modernity ... the governing myth of modern biology' (Jon Turney, 1998)
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Why ‘Myth’?
1. As narrative that is told and retold over many generations -- absorbing new sources and containing many layers of meaning
2. Articulating enduring or deep truths that continue to fascinate us -- authoritative ‘trope’ or metaphor in public imagination
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Elements of Myth (1)
• Gods• Beginnings• Creation of a universe• Expressive of religious values and norms• Related to cults and rites• Order out of chaos• Re-enacts a putative historical event in order to effect
binding power now• Primeval world order becomes exemplary
(Lauri Honko, 1984).
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Elements of Myth (2)
Dynamic, evolvingBinding, definitive, world-building (Paden)Relating to gods and supernatural?Or a ‘secular’ myth:• Victor as Everyman• Reflecting the birth of modernity: science, industry,
social engineering
Myth as ideology: frozen in time, inhibiting new thinking
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Is Frankenstein a modern myth?
What does Frankenstein mean to you, today?Is ‘myth’ a helpful way of understanding how our cultural imagination works?Does myth reflect or shape attitudes?Are there other powerful enduring myths in our society?