The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination by...

The University of Chicago Press

The Modern MythsAdventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination\nAuthor(s): Philip Ball\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: The University of Chicago Press, United States\nImprint: University of Chicago Press\nISBN-13: 9780226719269, 978-0226719269\nSynopsis\nMyths are usually seen as stories from the depths of timefun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing themand still living themtoday. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called modern myths. But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did. Through the medium of narratives that all of us know in their basic outline and which have no clear moral or resolution, these modern myths explore some of our deepest fears, dreams, and anxieties. We ke.