Post 2: Creation and Why We Care (Part 2)
How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog, I'm your host with a post Andy Ferguson and tonight we'll continue talking about creation stories. For those of you just joining us, last time I offered a brief introduction to creation stories as well as my personal views on creation. Tonight, however, we will be discussing how creation stories shape the way we view the world we live in.
To accomplish this, I will be referring to my close friend Ye Olde Three Part Thesis.
Creation stories shape the way we view the world because:
1.) Calling back to part one of this two-part series, creation stories offer us an explanation to who we are and where we come from as a species. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty fucking important in terms of how we view the world. Knowing who you are and where you come from, or at least having an IDEA of those things, are essential to one's identity as an individual. It goes to follow, then, that what is essential for an individual to view themselves is also essential to how individuals view the world.
2.) So then, what about creation stories that people share with each other? What happens when a group of people agree on set number of stories which they believe to be true? Well, typically speaking, you either end up with a religion or a cult, the main difference between the two being that cults tend to die out. Religions, on the other hand, go on to expand to even greater numbers and tend to create (or, in the case of Christianity, dominate) the cultures of those caught up in them. This is tremendously important to the way we view the world as all of us are raised in at least one of these kinds of cultures formed on the premise of certain creation stories.
before we continue, a word of warning: I'm about to get really nerdy. Like full on English major. No lie. If you're still reading, good on ya, keep it moving. If you're eye just happened to land on this exact spot before reading the rest, I encourage you to return to the top of the post and get caught up. All good? Rad
3.) In literary theory, there are four basic, bare-bones, bottom of the line theories: mimetic, expressive, formalist, and didactic. Each of these theories pertain to a certain characteristic of literary understanding. For example: mimetic theory is used to analyze how a text reflects or mimes (roll credits) reality whereas formalist theory is used to analyze how a text language and literary devices (think metaphor, symbolism, etc.) to express its themes. an easier way to think about it is that mimetic theory looks at the relationship between a work and the universe whereas formalist theory looks at literariness of a work itself. What about expressive and didactic theory you say? well for sake of my time and your attention span, we'll just throw expressive out the window and get to what I really wanted to talk about at the beginning: didactic theory. Didactic theory is used to analyze how a text may offer profound insights or lessons to the reader. In short, didactic theory discusses the relationship between a work and its audience. But what the hell does that have to do with creation stories? Well, buckle up cause ALL CREATION STORIES ARE IN SOME WAY OR FORM DIDACTIC. whew, sorry for yelling, just didn't want that part to get lost in the wall of text. but it's true: all creation stories typically possess some kind of moral or philosophical lesson from which the reader is meant to take. Take Genesis for example: God told Adam and Eve not to eat the apple. They ate the apple. Bad things happened to Adam and Eve. Moral of the story? Don't mess with God.
Whew, good to take a breath after all that. That's all I've got for you all tonight so thanks for reading my late night ramblings. My name's Andy Ferguson and I will see you next time (whenever that is).
Later!
To accomplish this, I will be referring to my close friend Ye Olde Three Part Thesis.
Creation stories shape the way we view the world because:
1.) Calling back to part one of this two-part series, creation stories offer us an explanation to who we are and where we come from as a species. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty fucking important in terms of how we view the world. Knowing who you are and where you come from, or at least having an IDEA of those things, are essential to one's identity as an individual. It goes to follow, then, that what is essential for an individual to view themselves is also essential to how individuals view the world.
2.) So then, what about creation stories that people share with each other? What happens when a group of people agree on set number of stories which they believe to be true? Well, typically speaking, you either end up with a religion or a cult, the main difference between the two being that cults tend to die out. Religions, on the other hand, go on to expand to even greater numbers and tend to create (or, in the case of Christianity, dominate) the cultures of those caught up in them. This is tremendously important to the way we view the world as all of us are raised in at least one of these kinds of cultures formed on the premise of certain creation stories.
before we continue, a word of warning: I'm about to get really nerdy. Like full on English major. No lie. If you're still reading, good on ya, keep it moving. If you're eye just happened to land on this exact spot before reading the rest, I encourage you to return to the top of the post and get caught up. All good? Rad
3.) In literary theory, there are four basic, bare-bones, bottom of the line theories: mimetic, expressive, formalist, and didactic. Each of these theories pertain to a certain characteristic of literary understanding. For example: mimetic theory is used to analyze how a text reflects or mimes (roll credits) reality whereas formalist theory is used to analyze how a text language and literary devices (think metaphor, symbolism, etc.) to express its themes. an easier way to think about it is that mimetic theory looks at the relationship between a work and the universe whereas formalist theory looks at literariness of a work itself. What about expressive and didactic theory you say? well for sake of my time and your attention span, we'll just throw expressive out the window and get to what I really wanted to talk about at the beginning: didactic theory. Didactic theory is used to analyze how a text may offer profound insights or lessons to the reader. In short, didactic theory discusses the relationship between a work and its audience. But what the hell does that have to do with creation stories? Well, buckle up cause ALL CREATION STORIES ARE IN SOME WAY OR FORM DIDACTIC. whew, sorry for yelling, just didn't want that part to get lost in the wall of text. but it's true: all creation stories typically possess some kind of moral or philosophical lesson from which the reader is meant to take. Take Genesis for example: God told Adam and Eve not to eat the apple. They ate the apple. Bad things happened to Adam and Eve. Moral of the story? Don't mess with God.
Whew, good to take a breath after all that. That's all I've got for you all tonight so thanks for reading my late night ramblings. My name's Andy Ferguson and I will see you next time (whenever that is).
Later!
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