Antik yunandan modern sonrasına "Myth" kavramının evrimi

Abstract

Evreni anlama ve kavrama çabasının ortaya çıkardığı yaratıcılık insan oluşumunun ve gelişiminin temel gücüdür. Kişisel ve toplumsal evrimlerin kaynağı olan yaratıcılık, kendi doğası içinde ?taklit etme? ye ihtiyaç duymuş; yaratma ve taklit, dinsel/mitolojik düşünce, sanatın, dolayısıyla uygarlığın temelini atmıştır. Mitsel kökenli gelenek hemen her toplumda güçlü bir işlev yüklenmiştir. Bu nedenle `İlk din', `ilk anlatı', `ilk metin' olan mitolojiyi geleneksel ve arkaik toplumlardan başlayarak ele almak, mitsel bir evrenin tanımını yapmada ve mitsel evrenin ne olduğunu anlamada bize kolaylık sağlayacaktır. Mitosu çalışma konusu olarak ele alan birçok farklı disiplin vardır. Tarihsel olarak bakıldığında, öncelikle filologların, hemen sonrasında da din tarihçilerinin ve antropologların mitosları incelediği görülecektir. Disiplinler arası farklılıklar, soruların ele alınış biçimlerinin öznelliği kadar, mitlere yaklaşım ve çözümleme biçimleri onlara anlam yüklemede birçok farklılık yaratmıştır. Tiyatroda, edebiyatta, resimde mitosların kullanımı, işlevi, estetik ve anlam bakımından ortaya çıkardığı sonuçlar her dönem ilgi çekmiştir. Bütün sanat dallarında kullanılan mitosların dünyası ortak bir bütünleyici, anlamlandırıcı, yaratıcı bir dünyanın kapısıdır. Bu sebeple mitoslara ilişkin oluşturulacak genel bir tanım yapmak çok zordur. Çünkü tanrının, şeytanın, cinin, perinin nesnel bir tanımı yoktur. Ancak bütün bu düşüncelerin toplumsal/tarihsel/sanatsal yönden tanımı yapılabilir ve süreç içindeki evrimleri izlenebilir. Sanatın vazgeçilmez arzusu, belli konulardaki fikirlerin, her tür aracı kullanarak iletmek istediği meseleyi anlaşılır ama ilk akla gelen olmadan iletmektir. Mitoslar bu anlamda sanatın ve insanlığın ortak kültür bileşenidir ve bu amaca hizmet edebilecek hayal gücünün ve yaratıcılığın doruk noktasıdır. İncelikli anlatımı, özgün dili, yaratıcılık ve büyülü anlatımıyla da derin bir dünyadır. Bu anlamıyla mit, insana dair olan tüm gerçekliklerin anlamlandırılması sürecinin başlangıcını oluşturur. Fakat mitosların teatral anlamda sahnede kullanımıyla birlikte, insanı seyirci olmaya ittiği andan itibaren ne mitosların ne de ritüellerin özgün anlamı kalmaz. Böylece mitlerdeki değişim, dönüşüm ve evrim süreci ?oynamayla? birlikte başlar. Artık mitler, sanatsal üretimin ilk ürünleri olarak, kendinden sonra gelen tüm sanatsal anlatıların da çıkış noktasını oluşturur; mit, bundan sonra eposların, romansın, trajedinin tohumlarını taşır ve insanlığın yaratıcı dehasının ve gelişen uygarlığın tüm edebi biçimlerinin ana kaynağı olur. Bu anlamıyla mit insana ait tüm gerçeklikleri, sorunları tartışan, çözmeye çalışan tüm sanatsal üretimlerin de başladığı yerdir, dolayısıyla canlı bir söylem oluşturur. Ancak içerdiği anlama, verdiği mesaja inananı kalmadığı anda mit, kendini yok eder ama ölmez. Başka bir çağda başka bir anlamla karşımıza tekrar çıkar. Mitoslar, bir toplum ya da topluluk içinde ortak yaşam sürenlerin kendi hikayelerini aktarırken aynı zamanda kendi gerçekliğini de açıklaması, temellendirmesi, haklı çıkartmasıdır. Bunu imgelerle, öykülerle ve tanrılaştırılmış kişiler üzerinden aktarır. Eski çağ mitleri başka ortamlara, başka çağlara geçişte ozanlar, anlatıcılar, dinsel metinler aracılığıyla ulaşır ve ulaşırken de yeniden biçimlendirilir. Bu biçimlendirmeyle birlikte mit sanatın yeni anlatım olanaklarıyla buluşur ve her çağ kendi mitolojisini ve mitik söylemini kurar, sanatının bir parçası haline getirir. Her dönemin keşfi, o dönemin anlayışına göre isim değiştirir. Yepyeni bir dünyanın oluşturulması, geçmişin mitoslarını unutturmaz ama onların yeniden farklı bir şekilde ortaya çıkmasını sağlar. Antik çağlarda yaşamın, düzenin, toplumun sağlayıcısı ve sağaltıcısı olan mit, akıl çağıyla birlikte tamamen anlam değişimine uğrar. Bu değişim sadece yeni düzenin bir anlayışı değil süre giden yaşam algısının ve değişiminin bir sonucudur. Çağdaş toplumlarda mitosların aldığı biçim, dil, anlam ve anlamlandırma süreci, tarihsel gelişim içinde toplumun değişim dinamikleriyle birlikte başka anlam düzlemine taşınır. Yaşanılan çağa göre de kendi mitolojik evreninin mitlerini yaratır ve ilksel anlamından tamamen uzaklaşır. Ancak bu uzaklaşma bir yok oluş değildir. Mitoslardaki öyküler, kahramanlar ya da kahramanlıklar, ortak deneyimlerimizin (bilinçdışının) mitsel derinliklerinden gelir ve nesilden nesile aktarılır. Dolayısıyla bu da insan yaşamına, edebiyata, sanata zenginlik, değer ve saygınlık kazandıran bilinç boyutunun dışavurumu olarak karşımıza çıkar. Bu nedenle mitoslar her çağın kendi söylem taşıyıcısıdır. Toplumsal kırılmaların yaşandığı ve her çağın kendi söylem dilini ve söylencesini kurduğu modern ve sonrası dönemde; tüm anlamlar yeniden ele alınmış, varolan tüm değerler yeniden değerlendirilmiş çağlara, toplumların gelişim dinamiklerine göre de mit ve mitolojik söylem yeniden tanımlanmıştır. Böylelikle yeni dönem sanatında yeni mit tanımlamalarını ve günümüz mit yaratma sürecinin nasıl işlediğini, hangi düzlemlerde nasıl mitler yaratıldığını, bu yeni mitlerin bugünün dünyasında neye karşılık geldiğini anlamak, mitlerin farklı kullanım biçimlerinin çeşitliliğini sergilemek estetik, işlevsel ve anlam açısından çözümlenmesini yapmak, Antik Yunandan Modern Sonrasına mitlerin anlaşılmasında, çözümlenmesinde ve yeni anlamıyla değerlendirilmesinde bize kolaylık sağlar. Creativity deriving from the effort to understand and comprehend the universe has been the primary power in the origin and development of humanity. Creativity, as a source of personal and social evolutions, requires ?imitation/mimesis? within its very nature; thus creation and imitation, as well as religious and mythological thought formed the bases of art, and hence the civilization. The mythic tradition has obtained a prominent function in almost every society. Therefore, considering mythology as a primary religion, narrative, and text since the times of traditional and archaic societies will enable us to understand and define the mythic universe and its essence. There are several disciplines which employ mythos as a research object. In a historical perspective, first philosophers, and then clergymen and anthropologists studied mythos. As much as the interdisciplinary differences and the style of questioning, the approach to the analysis of mythos has created variations in the final understanding of this important concept. The usages of mythos in theatre, literature, and art have always attracted attention in terms of the functional, aesthetic and conceptual results. The unity of all mythoi used in every branch of art is a gate to a supplementary, meaningful, and creative world. As a result, to articulate a general definition of mythos is really challenging since there is no literal definition of god, devil, spirit or fairies. However, a social / historical / artistic definition can be given, and the evolutions of these concepts can be pursued. The indspensable purpose of the art is to convey thoughts on certain subjects in a sensible but uncommon way by using any device. In that sense, mythos is a common cultural element of art and humanity, and the climax of the imagination and creativity serving that very purpose. It is a deep world with a delicate and magical narration, and unique creativity. All we need is to enter that magical world and form our own magical art. In that sense, the myth constitutes the beginning of the process of giving a meaning to all humanly realities. Together with the use of myths on the stage in a theatrical way, however, both the myths and the rites lose their original meaning from the moment they force the human to become a mere audience. Therefore, the process of change, transformation and evolution in the myths starts with ?acting?. Now, as the first products of the artistic production, the myths form the point of origin for all the following artistic narrations; from now on, the myth carries the seeds of eposes, romance, tragedy and it becomes the main source of all the literary forms of the creative genius of the humanity and of the developing civilization. In that sense, the myth is the starting point of all the artistic productions that discuss and attempt to solve all the humanly realities and problems. Therefore, it generates a lively discourse. The myth destructs itself at the very moment when there is nobody left to believe the meaning that it has and the message that it conveys, but it does not die. It reappears in another age with another meaning. For those who co-exist in a society or in a collective, the myths are the explanation, grounding and justification of their own reality while narrating their stories. They convey this through images, stories and idolized personalities. Through the troubadours, narrators and theological texts, the myths of the ancient times reach new environments and ages, a process that also reshapes them. Together with this reshaping, the myth meets with the new expression possibilities of the art and every age constructs its own mythology and mythical discourse, turning it a part of itself. The discovery of every single age changes its name according to the mentality of the age. The formation of a new world does not make people to forget the myths of the past but causes their re-emergence in a different new form. Being the provider and healer of the life, order and society, the myth?s meaning changes completely together with the reason of age. This change is not only because of a new mentality brought by the new order; it is the result of the ongoing perception of life and its change. The forms, the language, the meaning and the process of giving meaning that the myths are going through in contemporary societies are carried to a new plane of meanings together with the society?s dynamics of change throughout the historical development. It creates the myths of its own mythological world depending on the age and moves away from its original meaning completely. This moving away, however, is not a disappearance. The stories, heroes or the heroic acts in the myths come from the mythical depths of our common experience (the unconscious) and they are transferred through generations. They appear as the expression of the consciousness that gives a richness, value and prestige to the human life, literature and art. That is why the myths become the discourse-conveyor of all ages. In the modern period and after, when the social ruptures are experienced and every age constructed its own discourse and legends, all the meanings were revised, all the existing values were revaluated and the myth and the mythological discourse were redefined depending on the development dynamics of the societies. Therefore, it enables us to understand, analyse and evaluate the myths from Ancient Greece to Post-Modern in their new meanings if we can understand the new myth definitions of the art of the new period, how the myths are created in new planes, to what these new myths correspond in today?s world and show the diversity of different forms of their use and analyse them aesthetically, functionally and semantically.

ABSTRACT .Creativity deriving from the effort to understand and comprehend the universe has been the primary power in the origin and development of humanity. Creativity, as a source of personal and social evolutions, requires ?imitation/mimesis? within its very nature; thus creation and imitation, as well as religious and mythological thought formed the bases of art, and hence the civilization. The mythic tradition has obtained a prominent function in almost every society. Therefore, considering mythology as a primary religion, narrative, and text since the times of traditional and archaic societies will enable us to understand and define the mythic universe and its essence. There are several disciplines which employ mythos as a research object. In a historical perspective, first philosophers, and then clergymen and anthropologists studied mythos. As much as the interdisciplinary differences and the style of questioning, the approach to the analysis of mythos has created variations in the final understanding of this important concept. The usages of mythos in theatre, literature, and art have always attracted attention in terms of the functional, aesthetic and conceptual results. The unity of all mythoi used in every branch of art is a gate to a supplementary, meaningful, and creative world. As a result, to articulate a general definition of mythos is really challenging since there is no literal definition of god, devil, spirit or fairies. However, a social / historical / artistic definition can be given, and the evolutions of these concepts can be pursued. The indispensable purpose of the art is to convey thoughts on certain subjects in a sensible but uncommon way by using any device. In that sense, mythos is a common cultural element of art and humanity, and the climax of the imagination and creativity serving that very purpose. It is a deep world with a delicate and magical narration, and unique creativity. All we need is to enter that magical world and form our own magical art. In that sense, the myth constitutes the beginning of the process of giving a meaning to all humanly realities. Together with the use of myths on the stage in a theatrical way, however, both the myths and the rites lose their original meaning from the moment they force the human to become a mere audience. Therefore, the process of change, transformation and evolution in the myths starts with ?acting?. Now, as the first products of the artistic production, the myths form the point of origin for all the following artistic narrations; from now on, the myth carries the seeds of eposes, romance, tragedy and it becomes the main source of all the literary forms of the creative genius of the humanity and of the developing civilization. In that sense, the myth is the starting point of all the artistic productions that discuss and attempt to solve all the humanly realities and problems. Therefore, it generates a lively discourse. The myth destructs itself at the very moment when there is nobody left to believe the meaning that it has and the message that it conveys, but it does not die. It reappears in another age with another meaning. For those who co-exist in a society or in a collective, the myths are the explanation, grounding and justification of their own reality while narrating their stories. They convey this through images, stories and idolized personalities. Through the troubadours, narrators and theological texts, the myths of the ancient times reach new environments and ages, a process that also reshapes them. Together with this reshaping, the myth meets with the new expression possibilities of the art and every age constructs its own mythology and mythical discourse, turning it a part of itself. The discovery of every single age changes its name according to the mentality of the age. The formation of a new world does not make people to forget the myths of the past but causes their re-emergence in a different new form. Being the provider and healer of the life, order and society, the myth?s meaning changes completely together with the reason of age. This change is not only because of a new mentality brought by the new order; it is the result of the ongoing perception of life and its change. The forms, the language, the meaning and the process of giving meaning that the myths are going through in contemporary societies are carried to a new plane of meanings together with the society?s dynamics of change throughout the historical development. It creates the myths of its own mythological world depending on the age and moves away from its original meaning completely. This moving away, however, is not a disappearance. The stories, heroes or the heroic acts in the myths come from the mythical depths of our common experience (the unconscious) and they are transferred through generations. They appear as the expression of the consciousness that gives a richness, value and prestige to the human life, literature and art. That is why the myths become the discourse-conveyor of all ages. In the modern period and after, when the social ruptures are experienced and every age constructed its own discourse and legends, all the meanings were revised, all the existing values were revaluated and the myth and the mythological discourse were redefined depending on the development dynamics of the societies. Therefore, it enables us to understand, analyse and evaluate the myths from Ancient Greece to Post-Modern in their new meanings if we can understand the new myth definitions of the art of the new period, how the myths are created in new planes, to what these new myths correspond in today?s world and show the diversity of different forms of their use and analyse them aesthetically, functionally and semantically