Term of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Literature
Committee Chair
Dustin Anderson
Committee Member 1
Joe Pellegrino
Committee Member 2
Lindsey Chappell
Abstract
Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods creates a penetrating and sharp commentary on the state of essentially, every aspect of contemporary American society by populating it with myths that arrives on American shores over countless generations. From the characters to the settings, Gaiman utilizes the often-overlooked fact that myths can be found in every aspect of life. In many ways, Gaiman is building, or perhaps evolving, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces and Roland Barthes’ Mythologies to discuss the unique nature of contemporary myths and how ancient myths still play a role in our society. I contend that in American Gods, Gaiman has created an evolution of the kinds of mythologies that Campbell and Barthes develop by calling our attention to the fact that we actively avoid the knowledge of unsavory nature of cultural— or for Gaiman, mythic— figures in our ancient and recent pasts.
OCLC Number
1199008266
Catalog Permalink
https://galileo-georgiasouthern.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01GALI_GASOUTH/1fi10pa/alma9916375849902950
Recommended Citation
Bauer, Samantha, "Whitewashing Who We Worship: Amelioration and Cultural Imperatives in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2121.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2121
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
