Mit w literaturze. Nowe perspektywy mitokrytyki

Abstract Myth in Literature: New Perspectives on Mythocriticism The article presents a review of the latest research approaches in myth criticism, which have emerged in response to changes in the perception of myth in both the humanities and contemporary culture. Due to the discoveries made by historians, anthropologists, and philosophers in the 1980s who challenged the traditional conception of myth as a sacred narrative ritually reproduced in an unchanged form (Eliade), contemporary literary scholars have shifted their focus from the literary similarities of myth variants to their „original” versions to their reception and transformations in various historical and social contexts. One method presented in this article is „differentiating comparison” (Ute Heidmann), which involves examining the uniqueness of each literary adaptation of a myth, dependent on the context of its articulation. Another original approach is the mythopoetics of Véronique Gély, who analyzes the process of new myth creation in literature. In her work, she explains how fictional narratives become myths through the processes of reception and reinterpretation and the roles played by factors such as „memory” and „scandal”. Another methodological proposal is the cultural myth criticism of José Manuel Losada, which examines the erosion of myths in contemporary culture, linked to globalization, rejection of transcendence, and consumerism. Faced with the disintegration of mythic narratives, contemporary literary scholars increasingly limit their research to its most enduring elements – the mythical figures – focusing primarily on the process of their emergence in culture and their distinctive features.A new research area for myth criticism representatives has also become fantasy, seen as a contemporary counterpart to traditional mythologies, and contemporary reinterpretations of myths created by women writers, presenting mythical stories from the perspective of their heroines. The review of methods used in contemporary myth criticism concludes with an interdisciplinary approach, enabling comprehensive analysis of literary myths from several different research perspectives.