{"id":19290,"date":"2010-12-08T08:24:18","date_gmt":"2010-12-08T13:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fryeblog.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca\/"},"modified":"2010-12-08T08:24:18","modified_gmt":"2010-12-08T13:24:18","slug":"is-northrop-frye-a-sun-myth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/is-northrop-frye-a-sun-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Northrop Frye a Sun-Myth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transcribed by Bob Denham<\/em><\/p>\n

This erudite article was found in the Frye Fonds at the Victoria University Library.\u00a0 The identity of \u201cLLAR EGGUB\u201d is unknown.\u00a0 Spelled backwards, it is \u201cBugger All.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLlareggub\u201d is the small Welsh village in Dylan Thomas\u2019s Under Milk Wood<\/em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scholarship in the humanities and social sciences has this century turned its attention to the function of man as a myth-maker. \u00a0A great deal of scholarly energy and vast tracts of B.C. forest have been expended in explorations of the nature of man and his myths and rituals.<\/p>\n

I see no absurdity in extending the critical principles of mythopoeia to examine individuals themselves. \u00a0Let\u2019s start with Northrop Frye. \u00a0Is he a myth as well?<\/p>\n

First, what evidence do we have that he really exists? \u00a0Eyewitness reports are highly suspect, even inadmissible.\u00a0 Preppies who claim to have \u201cexperienced\u201d his \u201clectures\u201d are likely brainwashed. \u00a0It wouldn\u2019t require much washing either.<\/p>\n

Second, Frye is reputed to have a \u201ctabernacle\u201d at Massey College. \u00a0But who\u2019s ever been in there? \u00a0Don\u2019t even pretend you have, or will.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it, there\u2019s no use trying to extricate a \u201ckerygma\u201d from this myth. \u00a0There is no real evidence for the existence of an \u201chistorical Frye\u201d.<\/p>\n

But if we turn from biographical and empirical approaches to the mythopoeic, these pseudo-critical \u201cproblems\u201d disappear. \u00a0Frye\u2019s \u201creality\u201d is irrelevant. \u00a0Evidence which is indisputable points conclusively to an understanding of Frye as a sun-god, \u201cdisplaced\u201d by \u201cromantic\u201d Vic \u201cstudents\u201d to the level of a \u201cculture hero\u201d\u2013\u2013a figure of \u201cenlightenment\u201d!<\/p>\n

We have only to turn to world mythologies for analogous processes. \u00a0For instance, in Polish mythology, the sun-god wears rimless glasses. \u00a0So does Frye, according to reliable sources.<\/p>\n

As if that wasn\u2019t enough, in Greek mythology, the sun does not sit in a chair. \u00a0And in the devotional icon of him in Pratt library, Frye does not sit in a chair either.<\/p>\n

And in all primitive cultures (such as South House), the dazzling presence of the sun can provoke the sacred awe, the \u201creligio,\u201d as does the sun reflected from rimless glasses. \u00a0This was prevalent in Egypt, where until the Hashish dynasty rimless glasses were sacred and expensive.<\/p>\n

Similarly, ancient Sumerian postcards often depict the deity Shamash-ole with a pet aardvark. \u00a0Frye\u2019s liturgical connections with aardvarks are too well known to reproduce here. \u00a0Suffice it to say that in Swahili, \u201cFrye\u201d means \u201caardvark\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then, Frye, like the sun, is said to be extremely, if not perilously, \u201cbright.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sun, in almost all mythologies, rises in the morning, showers, and traces his course across the heavens, to sink in the evening .\u00a0 (The exception is in Irish mythology, where the sun is mistaken for a civilian every evening and blown up.)\u00a0 In a startling parallel, Frye\u2019s apostles admit that he, too, \u201crises\u201d in the morning, brushes his teeth, writes a book, and traces his way to Vic.<\/p>\n

In an even stronger parallel, apocryphal texts infer that Frye ate a baloney sandwich at midday. \u00a0This is surely a primitive recollection of solar flares.<\/p>\n

And finally, Frye is said to trace a course westward in the evening. \u00a0He is said to enter the common flow of humanity at the subway, jump the turnstile, and ride the silver Ouroboros through the underworld to his mysterious \u201chouse\u201d in the West.<\/p>\n

The cult and influence of Frye is pervasive, with priests proselytizing everywhere, followers (\u201csmall-Fryes\u201d) on the campus, and reviews in every second issue of Maclean\u2019s<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrye-dolatry\u201d is a vast religious movement, powerful, and feared by pagan professors everywhere. \u00a0Colonel Sanders has already received a franchise for a chicken \u201cMyth-Bucket\u201d (one \u201cself-contained\u201d piece) and a formula for removal of \u201cAnagogic Acne\u201d is near its \u201ctotal form\u201d of development. \u00a0Is it not time for the scholarly community to investigate beyond notions of a \u201cliteral\u201d Frye?<\/p>\n

LLAR EGGUB<\/p>\n

Llar Eggub (signed)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transcribed by Bob Denham This erudite article was found in the Frye Fonds at the Victoria University Library.\u00a0 The identity of \u201cLLAR EGGUB\u201d is unknown.\u00a0 Spelled backwards, it is \u201cBugger All.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLlareggub\u201d is the small Welsh village in Dylan Thomas\u2019s Under Milk Wood. Scholarship in the humanities and social sciences has this century turned its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-19290","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Northrop Frye a Sun-Myth? - The Educated Imagination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/is-northrop-frye-a-sun-myth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Northrop Frye a Sun-Myth? - The Educated Imagination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Transcribed by Bob Denham This erudite article was found in the Frye Fonds at the Victoria University Library.\u00a0 The identity of \u201cLLAR EGGUB\u201d is unknown.\u00a0 Spelled backwards, it is \u201cBugger All.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLlareggub\u201d is the small Welsh village in Dylan Thomas\u2019s Under Milk Wood. 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