"Campbell in Context:

Myth & Society in Northern Ireland"


The mythologist Joseph Campbell devoted much of his writing to explaining the way myths serve as narratives for deeply meaningful and even universal human archetypes. While remaining generally agnostic on the universality of mythic meaning, anthropologists who study the relationship between history and culture show how powerful myths are created and shored up through social rituals and representations which generate distinctive meanings for particular societies.

In Northern Ireland, a deeply divided society with a legacy of paramilitary and state violence, stories about historical events are mythologized to meet the needs of modern working-class Protestants and Catholics, especially in the context of working-class urban neighborhoods. In this talk, Liam D. Murphy discusses the relationships among images, stories, and identity that continue to provide cultural meaning even after guns and bombs have fallen silent.

Liam D. Murphy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Sacramento. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, he holds a BA Honors degree from Saint Mary’s University (1992), an MA degree from the University of Calgary (1994) and a PhD (2000) degree from Yale University. His work has explored the mutual relations among culture, language, politics, and religion within and across different societies. 

 He is the author of many articles and research papers on religion, politics, and identity, published in such peer-reviewed journals as the Journal of Ritual Studies, the Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe, Anthropology in Action, and the Anthropological Journal of European Cultures. He is also co-author (with Paul A. Erickson) of A History of Anthropological Theory (UTP Higher Education, 1998; 2003; 2008) and co-editor (with Paul A. Erickson) of Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory (UTP Higher Education, 2001; 2006; 2010). His book on Northern Ireland, entitled Believing in Belfast: Charismatic Christianity After the Troubles, was published Carolina Academic Press in April, 2010. 

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Luna's opens early for our event and beverages available during the meeting.  Please support the venue.

Please allow 90 minutes for this event which includes discussion with the speaker after the talk.

As usual, meetings are free, but we would welcome small voluntary donations to be forwarded for the maintenance of the Joseph Campbell Foundation's Mythological RoundTable® Program.