Jul 14th, 2009
As if to answer my prayers for mythography inspiration, the always-genius NPR program On The Media stepped into my vacation-induced void with their July 3rd program all about debunking national myths. Some of their debunking targets: Rosa Parks as meek older lady whose feet were just too tired to move to the back of the [...]
Jun 22nd, 2009
Let no one say the Mythographer is unwilling to correct herself. In a previous post, MM declared categorically that baby carrots “are a myth.” Then what should arrive at my door, delivered by a friend who purchased them at our local farmer’s market, but ACTUAL “baby carrots.”
Jun 14th, 2009
To debunk, from the Oxford English Dictionary, transitive verb: To remove the ‘nonsense’ or false sentiment from; to expose false claims or pretensions; hence, to remove a person from his ‘pedestal’ or ‘pinnacle’. Also absolute. Hence debunker, one who debunks; or debunking.
As one W. E. Woodward apparently said in 1923, “De-bunking means simply taking the [...]
Jun 9th, 2009
Myth: Creative writing can’t be taught. I have to admit, when I first saw the article in last week’s New Yorker about the effectiveness of M.F.A. writing programs, my first reaction was: not this again. Writing classes, writing teachers, and writing degrees are a colossal waste of time–because you either have talent or you don’t–and [...]
Jun 3rd, 2009
The release of a Da Vinci Code franchise always unleashes a flurry of debunking. Is there really an Illuminati? Can you really do that with a particle collider? According to an excellent essay by Dennis Overbye, director Ron Howard is well aware that the quasi-believability of author Dan Brown’s fictions are part of what gives [...]
May 21st, 2009
Watch this video, and tell me if you think it’s anti-Semitic.
Seven Jewish Children
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
When I started to hear whispers of outrage about brilliant British playwright Caryl Churchill’s new work Seven Jewish Children, I was impressed. It’s not every day that a playwright crosses the blood-brain barrier between the arts and the news. I [...]
May 12th, 2009
The Mythographer found herself in Philly recently, and it would have seemed downright rude not to visit the Liberty Bell. Now, the Mythographer went to public school, so I didn’t even really know what the Liberty Bell was, just that it had a crack in it. But the whole experience got me thinking about the [...]
Apr 11th, 2009
So the Mythographer arrived too late on the Passover scene to really ham it up, but thankfully other smarter heads than I have been busy unpacking beloved Biblical stories…and in a way which perfectly illustrates the mission of MM. First comes Bruce Feiler, author of Walking the Bible, an earnestly noncommittal (and bestselling) account of [...]