Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
20
Introduction
orbecamevehiclesofaparticularidea(e.g.SodomandGomorrahasaChris-
tianmythofdivinepunishmentforhomoeroticism),therewerealsobiblical
mythswhichfunctionedasmorecomprehensivevehiclesofsocially,culturally
andpoliticallysignificantideas.TemythofthePromisedLand,forexample,
wasmobilizedinpolitical,literaryandpopulardiscoursesduringthePuritan
Revolutionoftheseventeenthcentury,duringthesearchforthenewCanaanin
America,orduringtheGloriousRevolutionof1688(Cofey2014:57).Arelated
mythoftheCanaanitemandate(God’sgifofthelandofCanaantoIsraelites
andthecommandtoexterminatetheinhabitants)wasusedbyOliverCromwell
inIrelandandbytheBritishduringtheIndianMutinyin1857.Temythof
theApocalypse,sometimestogetherwiththeadjacentmythsoftheAntichrist
andthemessianicruler,wasemployedinthecontextsoftheemergingnational
identityintheElizabethanandJacobeanperiods,politicalturmoiloftheCivil
Wars,theFrenchRevolutionandtheNapoleonicWars,andnourishednotonly
politicalorpopulardiscoursesofthesehistoricalmoments,butalsothecreative
imaginationoftheirartists(e.g.RomanticwriterslikeBlakeorMaryShelley,
orRomanticpainterslikeJohnMartin).EmployedinSFldystopianfilms,litera-
tureandTVseries,themythofapocalypsehascontinuedtoarticulatetwen-
tieth-andtwenty-firstcenturyculturalfearsofnuclearthreat,theColdWar,
climatecrisis.
Tebiblicalmythsonwhichthisbookisgoingtofocusarenotthenarrowly
understoodliterarymyths,i.e.biblicalmythscompletelyswathedinandchan-
nelledthroughliterature(Brunel2016:xii),butmythsenergizedbyandsteeped
inmanydiferentdiscourses.Tebiblicalmythsthatarecentralinthisstudy
arethosethateithertacitlyorovertlyinformpoliticalspeeches,journalistic
writing,polemicalpublications,literarywritingandpopularentertainment.
Teyre-emergedinthetwentiethandtwenty-firstcenturyinresponsetothe
social,politicalandculturalcircumstances,andareusedtorepresentandcodify
ideologicalconceptionsofBritishcultureandBritishsociety.
Teechoingmythsdiscussedinthefollowingchaptersbringtogetherthe
BibleandBible-derivedcontemporarymythsimportantfortoday’sBritishcul-
tureandsociety.Tesemythsareasfollows:themythoftheBritishelection
andexemplarity,themythoftheimpossibilityofsisterhood,andthemythof
thebenign,sanitizedor“home”Bible,fullyintegratedwithBritishdemocracy.
Whilethefirsttwoarenarrativesconstructedoutofelementsfromwithinthe
Bible,thethirdmythisthemythoftheBible,i.e.anarrativethatmythicizesthe
culturalroleandstatusoftheChristian(Protestant)Bibleitself.Tetwentieth-
centurymythofelectionandthemythoftheimpossiblesisterhoodreinvigorate
theveryold,Bible-derivedmythsofthechosenpeopleandofwomenrivals,
anddeploythesebiblicalmythstoforgeconceptualmodelsforunderstanding
nationalidentityaferthedeclineoftheEmpireandwomen’srelationshipsinthe
contextoftheWomen’sLiberationMovement.Temythofthe“home”Bible,
