Culture · 6 pages · 12 min

Why a myth can be true in a way a report is not

A report matches events, and a myth can hold a meaning a community still treats as binding.

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From the opening

A report is true when the events it names happened as described, to those agents, in that order. A myth can be counted true when it holds a community's account of who they are, what an institution means, or how the world is ordered, even if those named events are not historical. The opening covers events are one test of truth, a charter is another kind of holding, and slogans do not inherit the status.

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Inside

Events are one test of truth
A charter is another kind of holding
Slogans do not inherit the status
Some tellers also mean history
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Malinowski's account of myth as a social charter
The contrast between historical report and traditional narrative

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Why a myth can be true in a way a report is not

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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