On the Monomyth

[hidden_urchin]

Since Joseph Campbell's monomyth occasionally comes up in our discussions, here's a critical Twitter thread on the topic that the comm might find interesting.

https://twitter.com/sentantiq/status/1389565106200121347

Comments

[cmdrnemo]

Funny little coincidence. I just finished watching this: https://youtu.be/OI2iOB8ydGo
Which is a 45 minute description of how Star Wars was designed to follow the monomyth as described in the original Joseph Campbell work as closely as possible.

That said, it's probably worth noting that the Monomyth is an invalid theory. The only stories that conform to it are ones that have been written after that paper and that are specifically designed to conform to it. Older stories do not fit the structure. So, much like the work of Freud and Jung, it is now more a piece of history and an example of 'what people used to think' than it is a scholarly or serious work. Potentially useful as a paint by numbers for an acceptable action adventure story. Not worth much, or anything, outside that function.

[epistler]

Savage.

[torylltales]

Another thing the twitter thread didn't mention, because it was presented as a universal "this is how stories are", and because it became so widespread in society, it actually acts as a barrier to creativity. Beginner writers feel like they must develop their stories and characters to conform to the monomyth, OR actively try to subvert it.

Because it's so pervasive, it's become a conceptual framework that blinkers beginner writers to other opportunities and story types.