Mutants, Mystics, Aliens, Outsiders: The Theology of the Paranormal in Myth and Popular Culture

Myths and the mythic have been analyzed since the Enlightenment, heralded, dismissed, ridiculed, dubbed archaic, even as they infuse both the art and the cultural formations that shape modernity. Although myths are generally associated with ¿primitive¿ cultures or with debased ideological cultural narratives (eg. the myth of the self-made man), myth is the single most persistent form of narrative that human culture has produced. Like one of Freud¿s primary words, it contains antithetical meanings. It is both a style and material for narrative; it is a tool of ideology and a mode of thought. Consummately true and obviously false, myths and the mythic shape the stories we tell and the stories we inhabit all our lives. Essential for understanding human cultures, they are ever elusive. This symposium will address how a contemporary, ever-evolving vernacular theology¿the mythic in its most popular forms--imbues the everyday. See the website for details about the speakers and schedule.