Anthropology › Section M · Religion and culture › Topic M.3
Myth and religious doctrine
In everyday speech a myth is a falsehood; in anthropology it is a sacred story that tells a people who they are. This topic looks at how myths are told, interpreted and used, and how religions that rely on written texts and formal doctrine still depend on the spoken word.
In this topic
- What anthropologists mean by myth
- Earth-diver stories
- Myth as a charter
- Structuralism and binary oppositions
- Worked example: a structural reading
- Critiques and other readings
- Oral traditions
- Doctrine and written tradition
- Scripture is also spoken
- Worked example: myth, doctrine or both?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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