QUEST FOR MYTH

by Richard Chase '37.Louisiana State University Press, 1949, 150pp., $3.25.

Myth is one of the terms which is increasingly used in the study of literature, particularly modern literature. Richard Chase has wisely felt that it was time for a book which considers myth in its relation to literature. But before he is able to do so he has to examine the opinions of those who have looked at myth from the point of view of religion, philosophy, sociology and psychoanalysis. He cannot, of course, in the space he allots himself, give all of the opinions men have held on this subject but he does give representative opinions for each school.

None of the previous opinions satisfies him completely. As he writes: "The older writers now seem to us to have neglected a simple and fundamental truth: the word myth meansstory: a myth is a tale, a narrative, or apoem: myth is literature and must be considered as an aesthetic creation of the humanimagination."

But not only is this" true but its reverse. Literature, or at least some literature, is myth. Chase suggests that to approach poetry from this point of view will have great results for those interested in the past, present or future of serious literature.

The last section of the book is a practical application of his general ideas. He takes poems from a deliberately wide range (The Metaphysical, The Romantic and The Modern schools are represented) and by using the categories he has developed shows how they can be used to explicate individual poems.

This book will interest all who are—and who isn't?—concerned with literature.