perform. I hope you will agree
with me when I say that myth can–
not possibly do this; that myth,
though it can tell us much about
human experience, is finally not
competent to perceive reality as
the rational objectivity of the mind
perceives it ; that it can give no
more order and meaning to life
than we expect from literature it–
self; and that the order and mean–
ing it does give must frequently
prove illusory or unstable because
of its imperfect grasp upon reality.
I should say that in introducing
myths into their fictions, such wri–
ters as Balzac, Melville, Yeats,
Joyce, or Lawrence are certainly
not calling upon some higher order
of cognition and moral truth but
are merely using a convenient and
usually very loose framework or
set of ideas which have a kind of
magical glamor useful in literature
but to which these authors must
themselves bring moral or ideation–
al meaning in their attempts to
achieve a solid or sustained influ–
ence over the minds of their read–
ers. There is virtue of a limited
sort in the popular meaning of the
word "myth": a story or an idea
that is not true.
You will see that the desire to
make myth autonomous
is
the de–
sire to found a religion without
calling it a religion.
I t is time, then, to make some
strenuous exclusions. It is even
time to make some exclusions of
myth from myth. There is too
much
myth. There are too many
compendia, too many encyclopedic
887
~~FREUD~~
DICTIONARY OF
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Edited by
Nandor Fodor and
Frank Gaynor
With a preface by Theodor Reik
A
HANDY one-volume glossary
of all Freud's basic terms and
concepts, defined and explained
in his own words. The source is
given in each case. Constantly
useful for psychologists, psychia–
trists, psychoanalysts, educators,
scholars, and students.
$3.75
"May well find its place
on
library shelves among other ex–
cellent recent volumes."
-V. C. Branham, M.D.
Chief, Outpatient Section
Psychiatry and Neurology Division
Veterans Administration,
Washington., D.
c.
PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY
Publishers
15 East 40 St., Desk 97
New York 16, N. Y.
Expedite shipment by prepayment
-free for the
asking,
II
new ClItll–
logue of dollllr first editions of
books by Willillm ellrlos Willillms,
Wolillce Fowlie, D. H. lowrence,
Henry Miller, Anois Nin, Fronk
Norris, Michoel Froenkel, Moyo
Deren, Illn Hugo lind mony others.
Postcord will do!
ALiCAT BOOK SHOPS
287 SOUTH BROADWAY
YONKERS 5, N. Y.
surrealism • abstractions • social
documentaries
•
psychological
studies • art films • avant-garde
classics
a cinema for the adult moviegoer
CINEMA 16
admission by memberhip only
information and programs:
Dept. R,
CINEMA 16,
S9 Park Ave., N.Y.C. 16, MU 9-7288
