Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)
Studies - Zsolt K. Virágos: The Twilight Zone of Myth-and-Literature Studies: Analogy, Anomaly, and Intertextuality
In intertextual correlations, therefore, these linkages will almost always lead to only partial revelations, 5 which in turn can be rhetorically manipulated and offered in critical strategies as fully substantiated. Which also means that an indeterminate number of analogies and paradigmatic claims is bound to possess the attributes of selective validity. To the question "is a lion like a snake?" one can legitimately respond both in the negative and in the affirmative. All depends on [1] whether the chosen criterion of comparison is relevant in the sense that it can be objectively corroborated in the given context; or, [2], on the subjective —and conative —level, whether the initiator of such a preference model can find "adherents" to the proposition, i.e., people sufficiently willing to accept the given criterion as relevant. Moreover, the dilemma inherent in the acceptance or rejection of analogous propositions has been further compounded by how we interpret two of the prime tenets of postmodern criticism, namely that [1] no text has intrinsic value, and that [2] the cultural consumer, let us say the ideal or hypothetical —i.e., the mentally alert and culturally prepared —reader/interpreter, is far more important than the generator of primary texts. Should we also indiscriminately accept the corollary conclusion that "works of commentary" must now be valued as much, if not more, than "works of art" (qtd. in D'Souza 180) as a general blueprint, we may easily find ourselves in critical deep waters for the simple reason that it may become more than problematic to sort out valid and invalid propositions. We may thus ponder the usefulness of freewheeling associations where, for example, Rostand's Cyrano and Rudolph the reindeer turn out to be, in the critic's fertile moment of epiphany, the incarnations of one and the same archetype. Bert O. States of the University of California is invited to testify: Some years ago 1 had a characteristic "mythic" experience. [...] I was rereading Cyrano de Bergerac, and it suddenly dawned on me that I knew this plot from another source. Here, it seemed to me, were the basic ingredients of the myth of Philoctetes, the Greek warrior who was exiled from the Troy-bound army because of an offensive wound, f...] Following the experience, I began seeing Philoctetes everywhere: in all those tales, for example, which center about ugly people, or ducklings, who are discovered to have " "As anyone knows who has worked with analogies, correspondences are elusive and often lead to only partial revelation" (Abrahams 154). 286
