Mythology draws attention to zoology because every god is associated with an animal, from Ganesha’s mouse to Kartikeya’s peacock to Parvati’s tiger to Kubera’s mongoose. Mythological fiction writers will try to justify this association by calling the vahan a totem or an emblem. For in mythological fiction, everything needs to be rational or at best, part of magic realism. Mythological fiction writers carry the burden of rationalising folklore, to suit the scientific temperament of an imperious coloniser. They are unconcerned about the aesthetic imagination of ancient people, the visual vocabulary that speaks of dreams and unconscious desires.

Mythology appreciates how the ancients imagined geography, with mountain peaks in the centre, rivers radiating out like spokes of a wheel and an ocean circulating the world. This has nothing to do with reality. It is a people’s imagination seeking to organise a chaotic world. For a mythological fiction writer, such maps indicate a real map of magnificent pre-flood empires.

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.79%

AAP 42.62%

INC 24.59%

Submit

View All In Poll

In the 19th century, history was separated from folklore, and folklore that deals with origins was classified as mythology. History was privileged as truth. And so, mythological fiction writers try very hard to prove that mythological stories are historical, hence true. This is a colonial hangover. Early mythologists like Freud sought to decode stories to unravel the ‘savage’ mind of ‘pre-scientific’ societies.

In the 21st century, folklore and myths, including rituals and symbols, are recognised as psychological tools to organise communities. They create what is now called social constructs or imaginaires, even cultural ontologies, which determines the tribe. In fact, now more and more people are realising that historians are not telling the truth. They are organising the past, based on evidence, in a way to make sense of the present. In a way, they are functioning like modern-mythmakers, seeking to influence future minds about the past, competing with propagandists and royal bards. 

Devdutt Pattanaik writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt.pattanaik@mid-day.com