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Myth: A Very Short Introduction. By Robert A. Segal. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pp. x + 163, list of illustrations, introduction, references, index.)
Robert A. Segal states his intention up front: "This book is an introduction not to myths but to approaches to myth . . . and it is limited to modern theories" (p. 1). Since one might imagine a number of different ways to introduce myth, his candor is appropriate. By limiting his "very short introduction" in this way, Segal is able to maintain cohesion and clarity in describing a large and diverse subject. He delineates the various theoretical approaches to understanding myths by associating them with their proponents. Myth: A Very Short Introduction is a book about academics, not about stories or storytellers.
Segal's method of presentation is fairly straightforward. Though he downplays the often heated debates that have arisen over what the term "myth" means, Segal does define myth as a narrative (p. 4) "about something significant" whose "main figures [are] personalities" (p. 5) and which "accomplishes something significant for its adherents" (p. 6), who hold to it tenaciously. After addressing the perennial problem of definition, Segal is able to devote the rest of the book to the theorists. In sections averaging two pages, he describes the works of prominent mythologists, briefly demonstrating how each writer's ideas apply to a particular myth and describing how these ideas relate to those of...