The Politics of Myth

by Robert S. Ellwood

The Politics of Myth examines the political views implicit in the mythological theories of three of the most widely read popularizers of myth in the twentieth century, C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell. All three had intellectual roots in the anti-modern pessimism and romanticism that also helped give rise to European fascism, and all three have been accused of fascist and anti-Semitic sentiments. At the same time, they themselves tended toward individualistic views of the power of myth, believing that the world of ancient myth contained resources that could be of immense help to people baffled by the ambiguities and superficiality of modern life.

Robert Ellwood details the life and thought of each mythologist and the intellectual and spiritual worlds within which they worked. He reviews the damaging charges that have been made about their politics, taking them seriously while endeavoring to put them in the context of the individual's entire career and lifetime contribution. Above all, he seeks to extract from their published work the view of the political world that seems most congruent with it.

Genres: Mythology, Religion, Politics, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Psychology, Philosophy

ebook

First published September 26, 1999

About the author

Robert S. Ellwood is an American academic, author and expert on world religions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...

Reviews

[Roger Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a helpful book. At times reading it I feel my temperature rising at minimizing language against the extremely antisemitic and conservative right leanings of the thought of Eliade, Jung, & Campbell. But then, the book needs to carry on to be more than indictment. A student of Eliade himself, I would have expected at least a mention of Rene Guenon's influence on Eliade from Robert Ellwood. Nevertheless, there is a lot of good information on the complex and at times problematic lives and thoughts of these major figures. Anyone who thinks the hero's journey or archetypal thinking does not have political ramifications ought to read this book.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding the 20th-century mythological movement led by figures like Jung, Eliade, and Campbell is important for addressing the claims of today's mythologists of podcast and youtube fame, who make many of the same kinds of claims and may have even broader appeal, especially among young men. There seems to be a direct line between the mythologists of the 20th century and the gurus of today, each of whom claims to be disclosing hidden knowledge that will save us from the ills of modernity (or postmodernity, I guess).

Unlike "dogmatic, exclusivist religion," the mythologists Ellwood analyzes in this book promised a gnostic salvation: a "saving wisdom telling a universally important secret." Unlocking the secrets of ancient mythology, they claimed, would help us cure the malaises of modernity, under which we suffer from an overly technological approach to human nature which has fragmented us into atomized, lonely individuals. Their gnostic, mythological solution might have been inwardly-focused, but it couldn't be politically neutral; it "could only be reactionary, returning in significant ways... to an idealized traditional world."

This is why Campbell, who celebrated the narrative of heroic individualism, couldn't see a figure like Rosa Parks as a mythic hero. Heroes for transformation and progress, who hoped for a better world to come, are incompatible with the mythologists of this book, who are animated by Nietzsche's doctrine of eternal recurrence; the conclusion that there is no such thing as progress, that "the essential form of the myth is the cycle" (Ellwood quotes Campbell).

Though they were critical of modernism, Jung, Eliade, and Campbell were born too late to be pure romantics. They had to dress up their theories in the language of modern science, like psychoanalysis, in order to validate their claims to a broader public. This is true of today's mythologists, too; it's why Jordan B. Peterson, who is strongly influenced by Jung, had to start his book with a reductive comparison of humans to lobsters. In a disenchanted world, it's necessary to validate one's mythological claims by first attempting to naturalize them.

I left this book convinced that romanticism, while offering useful critiques of modernism, mutates into something sinister when it is devoid of hope. What it morphs into is a gnostic myth: that collective, linear progress is impossible, but if I unlock hidden mysteries and go through the right initiation processes, I can triumph over my peers and maybe even pull some of them up with me.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

strangely erratic, idiosyncratic inquisitorial examination of the careers of three scholars of myth and religion. This reads more like a settling of accounts by another religious scholar who chooses to trade in anecdotes, gossip, and guilt-by-association, rather than an academic engagement. Thankfully, there were a few interesting threads to be disentangled from the overall morass of the text.

Oddly enough, Mircea Eliade (which the author did his graduate work under), who had the clearest, historical documented connections to a brutal, right-wing, and fascist organization comes out with the "cleanest" of the three depictions.

Very frustrating trying to follow the author's disjointed and leading argumentation.

On the bright side, it did encourage me to revisit Jung's essays "Wotan" and "After the Catastrophe" (Collected Works Vol X., Civilization In Transition) to see if the author had a clear argument(it was kinda muddled) or, if he was pulling things out of his ass (he kinda was).

Reading those two essays today, it was troubling to see how relevant they appear to be in this current political climate in the U.S.

[Clare Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be (based on the title) a deep engagement with and critique of the role of myth in politics so imagine my surprise when (it wouldn’t have been a surprise if I’d read past the title to get to the blurb) it was a defense of Jung and Campbell in the face of critiques of their politics.

[Mert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 Stars (%62/100)

Robert Ellwood’s The Politics of Myth: A Study of C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell is an incisive exploration of how myth functions not only as a spiritual or psychological tool, but also as an ideological force. By examining the political and cultural contexts surrounding three towering figures of 20th-century mythological thought, Ellwood invites readers to reconsider the presumed neutrality of mythic frameworks. While the book is insightful in tracing these thinkers’ intellectual lineages and cultural implications, it occasionally leans more toward synthesis than critique. A solid read for those interested in the intersection of myth, power, and interpretation, though it may leave some readers wanting a deeper deconstruction.

[Alexei López · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demystifying agendas

Myth is one of the concepts that came to the fore in the twentieth century's conversations of thinkers and philosophers, all this due to the work of very specific people, and the context in which they lived.

After accusations of antisemitism, fascism, conservatism, it is completely valid to question the agenda (s) behind the three scholars of myth that gave rise to this book. In this study, Robert Ellwood analyses the lives and influences that "colour" their main ideas. The book works well as an introduction to the work of the mythologists, as well as their main ideas and obsessions.

Great introduction to anyone interested in getting to know the three men in question as well as great summary to foster new ideas about them.

[Roar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this readable and fascinating comparison of those three thinkers. Even easy to understand.