It is interesting to me when someone looks at a Charles Ives or even John Cage and conclude that form and discipline don’t matter. If you ask either Ives or Cage, I’ll bet they say they studied their hearts out before they were capable of doing what they did experimentally.

Thanks for your post!

It reminds me of my old teacher of the guitar. He told me to study what others did. Learn it all by heart. Practise, practise… And then: Forget all of it and play what YOU want to play!

C ya!
Claus
.-= Claus D Jensen´s last blog ..Affirmations for Reprogramming Your Mind =-.

I love to visit with my Chinese Dr…. (who is not Asian but a fellow from SLC who went to China to study Chinese Med…. married an Asian gal and has two fine boys.)

He says that Asian thought is very different than Western thought. He says that present Western thought comes out of early German Psychiatry and we have been greatly influenced by it since around the turn of the century.

If this is true… psychiatry thought process cannot help but influence Western writing and art.

I personally find it to be self centered and without the “Soul of good vs evil” and Heros that inspire.

I think the reason Star Wars was such a success is that our very being seeks for the good… the light… the dream (and the dirty word…”hope.”) The popularity of the “Secret” is another example of the yearning of the Western heart.

I enjoy the writing of other cultures…myth or not… it touches my heart more profoundly than so much of current Western authorship.

(just my little point of view.)
.-= Kathy – Insightful Nana´s last blog ..Choosing Paint Color – Paint Color Decorating =-.

The myth has created the perfect genre for storytelling because it rings true.

I find it fascinating to read other cultures because of the myths they carry forward.

Sheila
.-= Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..Internet Marketing Workshops and Seminars 2010 =-.

No need to restrain yourself around me! If you notice, I am very careful in my essay to say “Western” society, “Western” myth and “We in the West…”

I quite agree with your assessment of Campbell. I also know that other cultures, other lands, other peoples and other languages have distinct mythology and distinct view of archetype and story structure. Their instincts and subconscious are shaped by a completely different story from ours.

I have planned (and mention it in one of my other posts) to do an essay on distinctions between story structure in other cultures, but have not yet done the required research.

Thank you for your thoughts, as usual.
.-= Geoff´s last blog ..Wage War on Christmas – A Warped Holiday Story =-.

I am a great lover of myth, in fact I’ve talked about it a couple of times in the last week on my blog, both in terms of my work as a planetarium presenter and in my response to seeing the film Avatar. I’ve also studied with a fair amount, and I have to say that while I think the Joseph Campbell has some interesting ideas, I think he takes the much too far. To my mind, Campbell seems to think that the “hero’s journey” is literally the same in the mythology of every culture.

When we look at mythology, I think it’s important to consider the culture, and worldview of the people who told the myth, and also the culture and worldview of the people who collected the myth. In the same way that black is the color typically associated with death in the West, but white is the color typically associated with death in China; different mythology has different meaning in the context of the culture and worldview that it lives in.

That may or may not be significant if you’re looking for inspiration in terms of how to structure your writing. But, it’s something that bothers me enough, in enough places, but I find it hard to restrain myself from pointing out.

Take care,
Andy
HTTP://binauraljourneys.com
.-= Andy Dolph´s last blog ..Starting 2010 with a different kind of resolution =-.