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DOCUMENT. RESUME

ED, '217 464 4 CS* '206 996

AUTHOR. Shapiro, Stephanie, Ann ,.

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TITLE TheTeatmre Story as Mythological Artifact.PUB DATE . Jul 82NOTE 27p.

; Paper presetted.at the AnnUa Meeting of theAssociation for'Eaucation in Journalism (65th,Athens, OH, July 25-28, '1982).

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Postage.- .

DESCRIPTORS Content Analysts; *.CulturaIrContext; '*Journalism;

ete

Literary Criticsm;.Literary Devices; *Mythology;ap t

Narration; *Newspapers; News Reporting; *NewsWriting

IDENT IFIERS *Feature Stories

ABSTRACT%

In the United States, where prifited literature is theprimary vehicle ofmyth, the journalist plays a critical role ascreator and perpetuator of myth through the narrative" form:Narratives of fiction or fact express the traditions and metaphors.ofa' particular culture'and transfbrm archetypal myths into myths unique

- to that culture. A comparison of American cultural myths with_newspaper feature stories reveals their shared qualities of a sense,,of otiMelessness, repetitiousness, and.reqffirmation of the valuesthat define and direct cultural conduct. The'realiSm of'featutestories recepts abiding myths in contemporary form. From examplesdrawn from the "Washington Post," one can observe that the journalist

,neither establishes nor recharts mythic consciousness, but fulfillsthesocial,obligatidns established for the myth. Although a featurestorrImiy ftict a world alien to-that of 'its readers, their valuesare. gefferally upheld rather thanldisputed by the depiction. Feature

Alstories, like all popular art, are designed to sell, and thus conform'to popular values and images. Several critics contend that the,audience's need for myth is exploiled.by the press and leads todeceptive reporting. They also cite a disparity between newspaperstories and the actual:experiendes ofgthose who read them. But theircultural analysis only stresses the role of the newspaper as adisseminator of information and overlooks its equally vital role as amedium through which national-mythology is celebrated and reaffirmed.As the link between myth and.the feature story emerges throughifluStration, sO -does the inescapable.ro,le of the journalist as

' myth-makers (Author/HOD)!.

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iQUALITATIVE STUDIESCOWINNER, GRADUATE RESEARCHPAPERCOMPETITION

THE FEATURE STORY AS MYTHOLOGICAL,ARTIFACT

By

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Stephanie Ann ShapiroMasters Candidate

College of JournalismUniversity of Maryland

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS.BEEN GRANTED BY

Stephanip Ann

Shapiro

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

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Presented to the Qualitative Studies Division, Association tor'Education irr Journalism Annual COnvention, Athens, Ohio, July l9M.

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To understand American,irterature.is to understand.

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\ American mythology. Literatdre has recorded and shaped our\

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national psyche, from earliest colonial times and .,continues

,'to do so today:` .In his study, Regeneration Through Violence:...,

he Mythology of the American Frontier,, 16,60.-1860, Richard,

S otkin.mdrks this,historically unique. iryteraction of

li%terature and myth, "Printed l iteratur i-as been from the

first thee most important vehicle of my in Ame'rica, whiCh%

1,sets it apart from the mythologies ofthe'patt.",

Noting ,,that the colonies were fo nded in the age of

printing, Slotkin describes that age s-impact on settlers:

Since America turned readily t the printed wordfor expression and the resolut on of doubts, ofproblems of faith, of anxiety =nd aspiratJon,literature became tjie primat.y vehicle for the-communication of ,mythic mater al, withthe briefestof,gbps between the inception of an oral legend

'and-its being fixed in the pu ric print. 2

Journalism as a literary for is ialso a vehicle of

myth. Like the novelist and the sioet, the Journalist is a

creator of what Slotkin calls the "artifact of myth--the

narrativet.0 Narratives, of fic ion or fact,lexpress he

traditions and metaphors of,a pa ticultr culture. They

transform archetypal myths*, fund mental to all of humanity,

into cultueel myths unique to th t cultLire. For example,

Richard Dorson, in America Begin , lists several themes

found in the narrathes.of Ameri4

's earliest Journalists:

"the economics of trade, the rel gion'of p vidences, the

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folklore of demonism," and relates how.these themes shaped4 r

'!the great' myth-images of America: a land Of boundless

monwealth personally blessed by God, a fabledreaches, -a

4'frontier allNie with marvels.", And Sliotkin speaks of the.

American writer as the "intelfigent,manipulator Of media and

artifacts" who, "controls and.diricts tpp developments of.'

myth,litiintting or augmenting. its _power to induce .the

mythopoetic affirmation tn its audience." 5,

4 ...

The archdtypal hero myth, or monomyth, common to a. ll. Y°

.cultures, -has emerged-as'the myth most q)lustrative of the0' \ 0

American experience. The heroic ,qu'eSt 1,s "perhaps the most,

Important archetype underlying American culture,"6, accordirig

to Siotkin, and appears gn..American literature in countl'es,s

variations.

When we consider Campbell's definition of myth as

"tradltiohal metaphor addressed-t6ultimate questions," 7 theT

'Journalist's role as interpreter and perpetuator of. the myth.

of the heroic queit becomes a critical -factor in Americans!

translation 'of myth into, action -and action into myth. For

Journalists, intelligent mapipt4latqrs of media and artifacts

that they are, appreciate the4. Ootency of metaphor as well -as

anyone who takes pep' to paper. And because of-their,Ooncerno

with' what is occurring "nowy":they Mold and renew the

,monomyth a much More immediate way than thos-e writers who-0

- require long periods °Of reffec,Eion for mythic expression.

Journalists are ever ready to ber4d information into,the

mythological 'artifacts thait'appear in the-newspaper. ,,,And as

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Srotkin stresses, mythic, artifacts must bend-to evolvelwith

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the cuttural myti-Wthey art.lculate:

The egend and stories we commonly call myths areSimply the artifacts of the myt-hs,:andthey retaintheir mythic. ppwers only so long as they cancon-.tinue to evoke in'the Minds of succeeding generationsa,visioh,analogous on its- compelling ipowe5 to that. ' K.of the original mythic poetic perception.

.,

gut several, scholars of YOUrnalism,whd recognize the ,. .-tat .,

-,) littrary chai-acter of the news stop short of acknowledging s

what Seympur Krim calls jourpaligM's "mythic propenSity.." 9

Although she relates'reCUicing,mot/ifs 4n 'the news to those

in folklore and fiction, Helen Macpill Hughes 'goes not con-_ .

skier the^cyltural archetypes that'those motifs symbolize.

News repeats 4tself, 1,s

he contends, not as a process of.,/-

mythological affirmation, but because "human txpei-ience,',

though varied, is endlessly dupl-icated, and an individual's'`

unique 'career.is, 'a type when numbers of people are con-

sidered." 10'

Recalling stories written whie.a police reporter' in.

.INewark, Robert D'arton cannot bring himself to carry the idea

of news as -sIory to: its ultimate mythical source-either, "Of

course lt would-be absurd to suggest that newsmen's fantasies.

erg haunted by primitive myths of the sort imagined. by Jung

and Levi-Strauss. ."11

Tom Wolfe,:as well.yjcannot,.

reconcile TeaAist and mythologicl artifact as mutually -*

.,

.., . /.inclusive components 'of ,the featurqwip.ticlei His opinion is

.-- .,..,)° 4.- -voiced in the imaginary monologue Qof spiteful'"Neo-fabulist"

whose only defense against new Journalists,qpd realiSm is.to .

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it reitarn tz those moat elementar4id pure. forms of story- telling,

the forms of Which literature fts,ey has sprung, namely,O

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myths, fable, parable, and legend." 12Wolfe concludes that '

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while they may have come firsZt myth and fable, "never stood

-a chance, once more sophistidated techniqUes were,discoveredr

as a printed' literature developed."1344;

Michael Sc irdson identifies two journalisms in

suggesting "a connection between the educated middle diass

and-information and a connection.between the middle and, . *

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c, working classes and .the story 'dept ."14

' Adriittedly, the.

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Daily News and the New York Times diffet 9rea,t1N,41hut

Schudson's linking of the educatect middle ciasswith, .

information alone ignores thb universal need for myth, and

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the)mythologjca) artifacts that appear daily in all, -,

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newspapers. The refined, erudite tones of the 71mes-may

disguise its mythic propensities, but cannot st.i.fle.'ifs.

.. .. .

\,, rnherited technique of ytelling, through which stories

ey

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'have "reached theew York Times fronkother*Geose." 15 ,

(Examples of mythic stories appearing in this paper are In

fact culled from another member of the elite press, the

:Washington Post.)

Nor does R:agfan,:, a-renown scholar of myth) regard

Journalism and myth as namic entit-y. In The Hero, he

\-rgues that myth and histor (of which journalism is an

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Instrument) are mutually exclugive. History is "the recital

in chronologi.cal . sequence of events that are known to have

myth,occurred;"16

whereas traditi mon, including yth, relips oh

"folk memory", i orally,transmitted and conse-quent) yisinccUrate. -Raglan concludes, "The-rapidity with which

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historical events are forgotten shows how unlikely:it IS4

that what is-remembered in,the form of tyadition shouc

history." 17

But as tile concept of news as story develops,

Journalism's mythic propensity emerges.. Comparing news-

stories with fairytales, Tuchman makes the connection

between-news and myth, "Both draw on the \culture for their'

derivation. . . Both takesocjel and cultural resources and

transform them into public,property: Jack Kennedy and Jack

'of beanstalk fame are both cufturai myths, although' ,one

liVed and the other did not."" Elaborating cjIthese two

myths, Tuc'hman suggests that .news stories and :fairytales are

.more alike than not: "Drawing on Cultural conventions,

members of Western societies impose distinctions between

stories about,the two men that obscure their shared features

of public character and social construction. "19

) r; study of new and mythic selectivity, Lawrence

and Ti,mberg speak of the inseparable course of heroic news

and cultural myth: Only upon conideration-Of the Idio-

syncretic mythic traditions of a culture can wg grasp "the

selectivities, and,conventins through which news acquires

its heroic story forms." 20They assert that "The news

industry and the entertainment (mythic) industry are, part of

. the sameliconfluent cultural stream, the. latter exhibitingt,

features. that are peCullar to Americas."21 They'conclude

that mythic adequacy, the'"dedeee_to which the features'of

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is"

an event.

confoleth tothe pre'-ex)sting features of a hyth9C

paradigmi" 22 is.an important measure of new4worth'iness.-

A sense of timelessness, the process of repetition, and. 4 ,

the affirmation of enduring values are common qualities of

myth and the eature story. In the same way that "Once upon

a time" invokes the timelessness of a fairytale, another

form'of mythical archetype Tuchman observes thaa lead

Invokes the timelessness of a,news story, "ultimately both

the fairytale andthe'news account, are stories, to be passed

on, commented upon, and recalled as individually appreciated

public resources.43 Not tinder the same structurarcon-.

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strain1s as a news story a feature story May even begin,.

"Once upon a time.

Campbell's notion that mythiis "symbolic of the play of

eternity tn-time"24 cliS to mind the ideas'of George

Herbert Mead and William Stephenson r arding the newsreading

experienc'e'. -Mead speaks of,the "realm of the reverie," a

timeless, dream-like'state, that conjures "imagined

enjoyable results" in the Minds of news readers, and which

"dictates the policy of the' daay press."25 - Stephensonrdescribes "quiet absorption in the newS'1" as ".more like being

in a trance than being in touche4ith reality." 26Reverie,

trance, play of eternity in time: all suggest a similar

state in which past, and. futufe are suspended for'the.

temporal experience of mythic, and. thus cultural renewal.'temporal

and news are repeated as *they are continuously'

transformed.tbcomply with cultural modifications.o

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Repetition serves. to reaffirm and restate the ,values 'found',

f''ih myth and in narrative. Speaking about the development of

narrative literature, Slotkin.states that 'frepetition isithe

essence of [the] process" iiy Aichqthe problems and

preoccupations of thie colonists' became transformed into

*vislops,which compel belief' fin.i civilization called

American." similarly, James W. Carey notes that' in ,

-)reading a newspaper: "nothing ,new is learned ,but in which a

particular'wiew of the,,Worqd'is poArdyed and confirmed-",

In Mead's discussion of the nature of aesthetic

experience, he describes 41story as 'a pattern that repeats'

itself, inmyth6logy'and in the mylhologLcal, artifacts that

ter.nalize mytholOgy, "All history is the interpretation-8f

the present,, th4t. I s , it gives.us not only ,the dirddt:ton and

trend of events. . . but _it offers irrevocableness of

thd pattern of what has occurred,,in,which,to embody the

still uncertatn and unsubstantial objects we; would"

achieve.-29 i

. -

Mead 's description of.pistory resembles Slotkinva

description of myth as."essentially conservative..? Like the1

"irrevocabjeness'of the pattek of what, has occurred,"

.myth's source of power is "its ability to . invoke and%

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relate all the narratives (historical and personal) that we-have inherited, ; .

"30The feature story, as narrative

and as mythological artifact, contains the code that

dictates and perpetuates the pattern of kilistory:.

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1. Although Wolfe argUes that reallim lies far from the'

...realm of myth, we shall see how the'rsralism of reporters/

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renderings of an urban odyssey, .of a feisty paraplegic's__, ,

- ,.,1,,violent death, ind of a tragica.1.1y flawed heroine, draw us

closer to the structure of the monomyth. The dialogue,.,

and,

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, -ttie everyday behaviorsthe realism - -of tramps on the

..street, -of a man who "lived by some code,derived.from

... -Al chugging the ground,"-. ay of a refugee from Siberia, recast .

our abiding-myths in csintemporai-y forms. "It is important to'

remember Slotkin's precept that a,cultur s mythology is- 4.,

vigorous and/enduring only as long as its artifacts evolve.. . ..

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qwith the culture. .Through realism, national myths speak inf; )

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a'contemporary, idiomatic voice that echos our,cult,ure. :And,

so, the mytlhs still breathe.

-Therelationshyp between journelism'aqd myth artifactI 4

is best viewed through WheelrIght.'s definition of,mythic

developme?nt as descr.lbed by Slotkin. There are three stages

-of developMent; "primary," "romeltic,-" and "consummatory.- 32

The primary stage establishes our mythic consciousness,

while' in the 'romantic ste, "the attginiment of an original

experience of mytho-poetic insight Into the natureof

reality becomes less important than'furfilling the Social

obligatidns established for the myth and for the'priests who

keep and ritualize it. 33The consummatory stage is

characterized by the artist's ab'ility to act "as prophet,

rather than as priest,or ministrant to his people, shaking

mlndi and hearts with new visions rather than providing,

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customary balm or normal social an4,perponal. anxPeties.03. 4f

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AThe.conSummatory myth-maker reenvls.ions,-"the cultural.

6 archetypes that, ,lie behlnd-thevarlegated surfaceiof his1

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culture's myth- media. "35

Journalism's pliancy lends itself structurally to all

stages of mythlc,developmeht. .Features that read like the

early Tournpls,..of our primary myth-makers, like t he legends.

and sermons of romantic myth-makers, like X.he epics, of

consummatory Myth-makert ,are the.result of the literary

freedoms of new journalism. But journalists are essentially-

romantic myth-makers, the priests who 'fulfill the.soc..laj

. obilgationa-etablished for the rm;tn.'36 They sustain the

status quo as- they'justifN the "philosophical arid moral*,

values which may have'been extrinsic to the initial ...s.

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experience &ut which preoccupy,the, minds of- the reading

. .kublic." 37

In his Introduction to The Unembarrassed' Muse, Nye

points out that the popular artist's product'';mus snow a.

p rofite8 and so he cannot afford the,risk of being anything"

but a romantic myth-maker. The popular artist, "corrobor-,

ates% . values and attitudes already familiar-to his

audience; his aim is less to provide anew experience thank

to validate an older.one.m,"

Washington Post reporter Neil Henry's chronicle of 'his

experience posing'as a bum on the streets of Baltimore and

Washington, is the Work of er romantic myth-maker, although

he ,Imitatet the style of both prImarrand cnsummaory

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-40rMyth-makers. For a Modern=audience, Henry recr'eates the

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- which .as .s.lotkin says is',"amoi21.6 the first1 ,

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coherent myth-narrcatiJes formtlated by a 4u.lture." ,.. , - 'I'

Henry's odyssey, as he terms it, was ar(.assignment,. not4s - \

:4a matter of survival, or of hvelatUon. He is neither _

>-° .,1 t . C

14'" creator nor proPhet:' Henry retehls a myth to suit our

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-'eime,,but provides no new visionor insight that steers our).

,mythic Course in" an 'uncharted dirciectiOn: 1-,;_lust the same, as

her0.'-Of own: story, and as a blaCkfman xpiori.Pg the life.

, of urban vagabonds, Henry-adds2an interesting and relevant.;

atwist to the:myth of the heroi5 quests His 'quest is made

even more qbsorblnIg ip lUight of what Slotkin has to say,"ato

the source of the American myth there ires the eat-al

opposifLon,.the,hostilieY-betWeen tog worldi, two.race4s.,;two'realmsof thought and,feeling. "41, Arthouthhe,refers to the

conflict between white man and Indian, Slotkih's words hold

true for the conflict between, vhites and blacks on' another1, a

frontier. I

.In Part of the series, Helry establishes his Homeric

role with a litany of the erlals he would englui-e,,and.of the4

fellow travelers he wduld encoupiter:.-

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.The. He 4ping-up.Mission 4s where I spent the firsttwo weeks of_ an urban voyage as a-homeles derelict..During,this joUtney, which ended nearly't4o mOnths°

. :,later inWashington, "I scavenged for food and ..,,

soughtphelter,wherev,pr rtwas avall016. . . .

. I mei men andWomen who later would be.involved.'inrobberies,. murders and other crimes of pass4-0and desperation. . , . , .

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'°.MY pockets' Were,

empty-,..

but my mind was swim-ming 42...

with,intense feelings of adventure-and fear..

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Elmployirig most of the .literary technq es that Wolfe

claims free the wri.ter"rom myth-7scene -bY cene consVruc-t

tion, dialogue, third person point of view, en ry leads Cs- 4.

through a mythic underWOrld and emerges as.an initiate into

manhood; out of the cold and into .his girlfriend's toasty

apartment.

6

On the street, Henry captures the language, behaviors,

and philosophies.of an array of vagrantsl'as\io other epic

heros who meet companions on the road. His myth encompasses

the fugitive myths of those Who never knew the American.

dreaml'as Illustrated in his conversations with a fellow bun.

named3Wilie which took ptace on the heating grate they. .

called.home. After waking uiifrom anight on the grate,

during which her got no respect from rats or passersby, Hen ry

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recalls "/ felt weak frOm hunger -and yei-alMost super-. r ' .

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human." 43 He sees himself as- -a superhuman, a hero, having,

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survived a'helpsh night.

But Henry's adventure as it parallels Slotkin's

description of quest, does not champion the cause of his

street friends as much as it would appear. The "threat cif

some natural orhuMan calamity" SlotkiedeScribes is the

threat of bum-s to the Sverage Post reader's way o'f lffe. As

romantic myth-maker, "ministrant to bis people," Henryf

reassu?es his audience that'the tramps pose no threat they

are sad; eloquent men about whom more shluld be done, btlt,--

they are harmless should, you [the reader] accidently step on

one I n'the,end; Henry, as priest, gives his audience what

they want to hvir.

At the conclusion of his quest, Henry runs into Attie,tex

,

a wanderer with many -heroic qualiti-es of his Own,.

alone; discovers Henry's Identity, and that is only right.

Amid the litter, and fray of back alleys, it takes one'hero

to 161o4 another. We learn Henry has made it through the

fire--as a confederacy ofmheroes is born:

.

Another example of the r=ealistic treatment of mythjiii4.

the Washington Post is.the account of the life and death.of4

Hobart Wilson, a paraplegic, and as the headline charges:0

"Hell on Wheels." Reporter -Chip BrownArlakes the most of

Wilson i

g4,singularity in the.tale of hiS',demise. But again,

it is romantic, myth, the retelling of an old story in modern

form In which myth is reestablished; to conforil to contem-,

pofary society, but is not reenvisioned..

The story opens like a traditional ballad, sung from

one generation to another:

Jhey laid Hobart Wilson in the ground'last week.The people who stuck byhim--:his mother, his wife,his boy Junebug and adlandful of other kinslid-

\the metal coffin aver the tailgate of t e family'stwo -tone pickup tryck. Then they drove. ir nightin the rain with the body, 500 wet and windingmiles from a small brown house in' Silver,Spring to

44a grave beside Wilson's father in Harlan County, Ky.

The techniques of nem Journalism recreate for a contemporary

audience the broadside ballad, whichl'"enjayed.a long

history that began when the folksong was first set in type

for sale and ended when the newspaper, brought the masses

stories based on the news." 45.

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43:

Wilson was regarded as "garbage" by others than friends.

and family; even so/ 4'he.was one of a kind, a man of the'

fiercest pride, a poor, white count4 boy known-as one of

the most notorious characters in Montgdmery County." 46. .

Paralyzed as a child when he fell from a.tractor, Wilson is

an amalgamation of American types: he'is an antihero

admired for HIS disreputableness, ("His grotesque and comic

history of roguish feats would-be ,an actlieVement even for a .

hellibn who could walk."): 47..he is a trickster, robbing

buildings and leaving behind the "weird, grocery -cart wheel

tracks"48 from the skaieboard-like contraption on which he

propelled himself.' He' is also a consummate American, an

"adamantly self-reliant man,"49 who rejects proffers of help

and pity. As such an American; Wilson is a,descendent of,

the frontier hero,4Daniel Boone: "lover of the spirit of..

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the wilderness, [whose] acts of love and sacred affirmation

are atts\of violence against that spirit and htc....teaTars.

, .But Wilson departs from Boone in a notable way. On Wilsoh's

5 0

arm .was a tattoo that said, "Born to Lose." And suD4

enoulhA as a paraplegic with legs as thin as "drumsticks,"

the subject of gawks and smirks, Wilson's retaliati-ops, his

S

violent_a -eldaff-frmation" only des r y

7Aim and the stranger he crashed into at /01) mph. _Daniel1

Boone was reborn through acr.s of qtblence. Wilson; in his

ultimate act of violence, dies. In life and in death he was

ft -

iin the wrong lane.

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Whether or not he realizes it, Brown is telling us

about ,the chances for survivaCof the' Hobart Wilsons in the

suburban wilderness outside D.C. And as a romantic myth-:,

* maker, Brown, like Henry, tells an enthralling tale without

toppling his readers' values.

Felicity Barringer's 'tale of the life of Tamara Wall,

" ght from Sorrow," also from the Washington Post, roughly

parallels Raglans criteria for the "Story of the-,Hero of

Tradition" 51 areas such is a unique portrayal o'f. a.

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contemporary heroine and 'her quest. Like the hero who is

"spirited away"52 after an attempt on his life, Tamara Wall-

wat exiled 'from her native land; Germany, sent to a Siberian

labor. camp, and-eventually to England as a. refugee. There,

she was ised by a ypung woman of no relation to Wall,

fdllowing thep$6ern of the hero who is "reared by foster

parents in a farsi.couhtry." 53 Wall eventually Joined_ her

father in Oregon, and remained silent on the subjeot' of her

Oast, like! the hero about whom "we are tolclik.nothing of his

childhood." 54-Barringer describes Wall's sire:ice which she

maintained throughout her life in Washington, D.C.:o

Her double life was-not a matter of consciousduplicity, but one of willful forgetfulness...In _Washington, Tammy Wall had.ound the per-fect" Place to hide herself. She lived in acity that slekands little in the way of a pask5asking only a present, andperi;apS ayfuture.'

The hero, "on reaching, manhood retUrns,or goes to his

fuebri kingdom:1'56 Similarly, Wall'arrtves in Washington at

22 'and it ksji.as if she had been-"neWly conceived." While

the hero, "after -a victory over.the king acid /or a giaht,

dragon, -ors wild keeSet marries a princess. . . and becomes

king,"57 Wall takes on Washington, works her way through .

. law-school, marries, and receives her law degree. Like a

king she commands a large audience of admi ers, and as a

lawyer she "prescribes laws"58 as does the king until, like

-the hero who "loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects,.

..

. and Is driven from the throne apd city." 59 Kali is fired

from her positio9 as assrstant -cohsel on the House Education.

and LabOr CQm1ittee after accompenydng Adam Clayton POwecon

a controversial European excursion.

The hero "meets with a mysterious death "60 s does Wall

who dies of cancer at 47. And as Is the case of the hero

whose 'children do not succeed him,' 61Wall! "s daughter,

Cynthia, oannot, succeed her as.iniellectual, lawyer,

socialite. She is mentally disabled and. is incapable of

success by Washington standards.

Walli.s'story is a fasoinating'account of a heroine With

more than one tragic-flaw. Her determination to overcome

ghosts from the Oast and hardship is patterned on one form

of the heroic quest--the American_success story. But as an

individual attracted to the political` dynamic's of. Washington,',

her story is decidedly not the story of Nhe man grwomhn on

the street, but one who'qlps sgicceeded' in a professional,

upper-middle class, white world.% And that,, in the eyes of. -

the reporter is what makes the story so unique.. And that as_

well, is what separates the life of Tamara Wall from the

'lives of most others..

ti

.

4

As a romantic. myth - maker, Barringer spins.en engrossing

tale, but its significance for theWajority of. Washington

limited. When the serPes rah, it was avidly readl'but no

one could understand why it appeared in the first place.

Had.it been more than a good story, had it been a relevant

story that mirrored the bkpertences oi.Washington4s diverse

population, its appearance would not have been as puzzling.

In the following discussion of problems that arise when myth

frames news, Lewis Lapham names loss,of identity as a result

of readingso many stories that do not reflect one's own

life.

At Worst, 'romantic myth-makers warp the-original

significance of myth, resulting in the corruption of the

"faiths; and vaiuei that were inherent in the original[

'ffilythopoetic ,exparience.." 62 It js the jourd;list_as romantic

Myth-maker that Lapham fears in his essay, "Gilding the

News." He believes pressure is placed on the Journalist to

satisfy "the desires, of an audience that pays for.wSat,'it

wants to hear and stands willing to atpept the conventions

proper, its' place and time " 63 The outcome is a "mytho-

poetl.c interpretation of the facts; "64i6 other words,

deceit:

If the media succeeds with their spectacles andgrand simplifications, it Is because their audiencesdefine. happiness as the state 61 being well andartfUlly deceived. People like to- listen to stories,to believe whdt they're told, to imagining thatr,theimplacable forces of history speak to theM wit.h a

65human voice. Who can bear to live without myths?

1

16

,17

Lapham asserts that our need'for myth has been-exploited by

the media to the point where an' individual may be "trii.cked

into believing that he has no story of his own." 66He

suggests that as a people without a story we are fodder for-

the romantic myth-Maker/journalist, "The resulting loss of6

identitleadJto the familiar chtonital of confused

s.

conflict, which in turn can be reprocessed into tomorrow's

broadcast or next year's best-selling novel."67 Darton adds

to Laphm'issp'theory with his own criticism, "newspaper

stories, must fit cultural preconceptions of le news. Yet

fight million people live out their lives everyday in New,

York City andI felt overwhelmed by the disparity between

their experience, whatever it was, and the tales that they.'f

.}3read in the 1Times. il i

...

,

LaphaWs critique should not b4 disregarded; certainly

,.questions a d confusions arise when we supscribe to our

Cemyths at t nty cents a day, and when.consumed, cast them on,

a yellowIhgpile. But in demanding a journalistic standard

unconfined by cUltu'ral asti,gmptiSm, he overlooks theAP

newspaper's onsr: function. It is not only a conveyance of

information, but/a dynamic mediuM which reflects and

reaffirms our mythopoetic vision in every issue. Whether

consciously or not, a journalist reconstructs, mYthOlogy as

He constructs a feature story. "'Be-cause his work i-s bound

and shaped by the "great,myth-images of America," the. f

Journalist's role as myth-maker is inescapable.

18.

The examples pres4hted in this paper demonstrate that

even the techniques of news gathering and dissemination are

..ederived from ancient forms-of mythic narrative. Henry,

emulating Homer, Kandicaps himself with',a Vow of poverty

collect the wealth of experience he would shape into

Odyssean form. kHis destitution,,ynlike Homerrs handicap, is

not real, but it admits him to a world otherwise inaoees-.

'sible. (George Orwell, another inspiration-t-o Henry,' also

underwent self-imposed poVerty to be ancloswrite DoWn and

Out in Paris and London)

Brown's narrative imitdtes the oral tradition and

recalls, a rich heritage of mythic ballads. Although Hobart

W Iso djd, live, his life seems as fanciful and incredibledi

'as t ose depicted in'earjier 'ballads.I a sense, the facts

of his life are immaterial, for the myth of Hobart Wilson,

like oth4r myths, will live on,regardless of its verity.

Whether ornot*a feature story is true is less impqrtant

than themyth it perpdtuabes, to the dismay of-Lai:f-lam and'to

the delight of those who seek entgrtainmeht,and detural

affirmation as well as"AnfOrmeation in their newspaper.11,

Barringer died not, disguise herself to find hei- story,4

nor did she consciously imitate the oral narrative tradition

to recreate mythh. But she did immerse hersejf in the tale

-of a woman whole experienpes were remarkably true to thee

pattern of thelheroic' quest. In Tamara Wall's story we not-0

only see the inevitable union of myth and the feature story,

but the unity.of myth and life.

1

i

ti

t 4

4

4

. 1.9

In preserving ,a particu ar wOrLi view, theNTournalisti. .

,as romantic myth.-maker fequently passes over the lives of .

thdse Who do 'not: prescfibe to that view in word or in deed.; ..

While it is, reasonable to seek.the stories'ef consummatory.

myth-makers whose visions encompass those lost and neglected

.in romantic myths, At-fg. rfoI -reasonable to expOt their

appearance in thedeily,presS- Myth, as it appears in the

newspaper, is a comrliodi -t. y69

supplied according to public.

,.

,demand.- Consequently Journal.ism, as a veErcle of myth, willA

e .continue.to update and revise; the artifact of myth in a,

70,-purely romantic, diverting' form. The public does noS.-(..)

,

usually demandstartli,ng,and,revolutionary visions with its, r

. ,morning coffee...4 But r'ecognitiOn of myth as a commodity does

.not.minjmize the undeniable and potent pleience of mytho.

t

logical artifact thesneWspaper.

0

C

y:

4

"".

A ' ,. :',..

0 ;

r-7...".7 r:*?"171,- :.-'

'S ftteA ,qA112"--

,. 7,--., e /7, .- ..

7-' .,-* ' ' .- ..it, . , .

..4. N,..

a la

- Footnotes. '4;#1,R..11:0 otkih, Regeneration Through' Violence: 'The

Mytholog ...mericail Frontier, 1600-18'60 (ConneFticut:Wesleyan WO ialtX7Press," 1973),-Ot: 19.

. wu..,

2 Is * V.: 4 --,ifib ct,:A-op- -

3 'TN t .c.Ibid.0,..- 8. 4

- ,

o .

- 211

40Richa°0 Dorson, America Begins (New York.: Pantheon,1'950), p. 12..; ' *

,/5Slottin4 p. 15.

4.4 .

6Ibid.,..p.°10

7 t ,rQuoted by 'R:ichard.C. Grgeene,in "Myth and CritFOIsm,"unpublish,ed-manoscript, Wesreyan Uhiversity, September 1967,'

4.cited by SlotAin; p.,.14,

8Ibid., p. 8. 5-)

A9Sevmouri(rim, "The. Newspaper as Literature/Literature"4

as Leadership.' , In DOnald Weber (ed.) The'Reporter as *,

Artist: A Look at the New Journalism Controversy (Ndw York:Hastingso.HoUse, F974); p. 183.

- 10Helen MacGill Hughei', News aria the HumanInterest' ",

Story- (Chicago: -The University of Chicago Press, 1940), p.211. 4.,

11Robert Darton, "Writing News and Telling Stories,"

Daedulus, (Spring.1975), p. 96.

12Teat-W

York: Harper &

13Ibid.

Row `1973), P. 41.

14Michael SchOdsom, DIscoverPhg the News: Social

,

History of AmeriCab Newspapers'*(New York: Basic Books,,,

Inc., .,19784), p. 89. ; ,...

, \ 0

-, 15

Darton, p. 193.)

Co

1. '16

Lord Raglifn, Theikeroll, A Story in the Constructionof Reality (Niew,Yorkf,:jhe Free Press, 1978)', pp. 5-6.

--.+.

191

.13

id. i: 4.

ea

0')

i.

`kt

(

- A.

to

'21tot'

20Joh-n Shelton Lawrerice and Bernard.Timberg, 41

"News and;Mythic Selectivity: Mayaguaz, Entebbe; Magadi'shu," Journal

. - of American Cufture, Ir ("Summer= 1979), p. 323.21

Ibid.

22Ibid., p. 328.

,23Tychirran,, pp: 5 -6.

N2.4

Joseph Campbell, *The'FlIght of the Wild Gander'(SouthBend: Regnery/Gat"eway=Inc.,'1979), p. 16. :. .

. .-).25 '

....

,George Herbert Mead, "The Nature of the AestheticEXperience," lb- A. J. Reck (ed.), ZileSelected Writinds..-=ofGeorge Herbert' Mead (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964);302., <\ 4

, .

1

'. 26'PI

't

.. William Stephenson, The Play\Theory of Mass

CommunUcation.(ChiCago: The University of Chicago Press,1967),-P. 51.

O

P. A

1

27Slotkin,',p.20.

28JaMes W. Carey, "A Cultural Approach

Communication, '2 (1975), P. 8.

Mead,1 p. 298.

to Communication "

30Slotkin, p. 14,

31"Hell on Wheels NThe Washington Post, June 6, 1,81,P. Al. .

32"Semantic Approach to Myth," in Sebeok Myth: A,Symposium," pp. 155-56, cited by Slotkin,.p. 12.

----/ wo.33

Ibid.

341-bid, p. 13o.35

Ibid.

36Ib18., p. 12.

37Slotkin, p. 20S /II

38Russell Nye, The Unembarrassed'Muse: The PopularAmerica.(New York: The Dial Press, 1970), p. 6.

39Ibid., p. 4.

40SlotWin, p. 10..

.Av.)

a

A.

1

41Ibid., pp. 10-11.

442"Down and Out," The Washington Post, April 27., 1980,

pp: Al, A18.

431'Down and Out," The Washington Post, May 5,'1980, p.k

A18.

""Hell on Wheef,1 The Washington Post, June 6, 981,.

45Hughe, p. 149. '

.

46"He1 1 on Wheels,".The" Washington Post, June 6,'1981,p. A5.

-

-

47Ibid. ,

48Ibid.

49Ibid.

50Slotkin, p. 22.

)

51Lord Raglan;, "The Hero pf Tradition," in Alan.Dundes,

.

(ed.) The Study o- Folklore (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965),-,10. 145. b, .

52Ibid

53Ibid.'

1-54 Ibid.-

55Flight From Sorrow: 7he-Life of Ta ara Wall," The

Washington Post, May: 31,4,1981, p. A2:4

56Raglan, p. 145.

57Ibid.

? 8

.

59Ibid.

60Ibid.

6.1Ibid.

4'62Siotkln, pp, 12-13.

4

63Lewis H. Lapham, :"Gildrng the News," Harper's, July

1981, pp. 32'q33.° -4

C

64-Ibid.., p. 33..

65Ibid.,'p. 37. ' .

.:'ibid., p. 39,

0.Ibid. ...

r S.-68'

,Dartorn, p. 1982 ,

,.. . ,

il , _

.

BInd not myth'as a commodity is not new. ,Ralph''.

Waldo Eme, rson noted the" connection betWee'n 'myth 'and 'prOfit.,fn his rotrnal,' "We,- cannot say what:is our mythoJogy. 14'.can onlyee that the industrial,-mechanical, ttl#%..,,

'pa'rlithentary, commercialcons,titue it." Journal o#'Ral'ph41.Waldo Emerson, p. 383, cited by Harold Schechter, -

1 "IntroduCeipn: Focus on Myth and American Popular Art,"Journal of American Culture, 2:2'(Summer 1979), p. 210.

70Harold Schechtor, "Introduction: Facuson Myth and

American Popular Ait," Journal of American Culture, 2:2(Summer 1979),..p. 21,0. *

.4

0

23

'1

J.

7 .

Bitillography,

4

4 , .,,.

. ..

. ,: -

,-

'Campbell, Joseph. 'The Flight of the..141,N Gander.--,South..

r

Bend; Indiana:. Regney/Gatewai,-4Inc.,. ...

.

.-

Campbell,. JoserA; The, Hero with'a Ttiplusand,F.acei;,,

Princeton: PrInceton.Unlyersiti Prels, 1968,.., .

'-4 '0 ".. . . ..Y Caney, James W. qThe,Communicatiohs Revolution and the ;,,,4

-.Professional Communicata," in P. Halmas (e.)-.

v,, Sociological Review Monograph, 13 1969). 4 i. ,

Darton, Robert. ."Writing News and Telling Stories.",Daedulus, (Spring 1975), 175-94,

and.Oyt," The Washington Post, April 27.-May 8,1,1980'.ee

Doreon, Richard. America Begins. ,NewYork: Pantheon,1950.

Dundes, Al An. TiheStudy Folklore. .Englewood'Clr'ffs, levy.Jersey: Pfrentice-Hall, Inc., 1:965..

"Flight From Sorrow: The Life of Tamara Wall," TheWashington Post, Mai 30-June 6, 1981.

Gans, Herbert J. Deciding 'What's News: A Study of CBSEvening.News, NBC Nig tly Newb., Newsweek, and Time..New Yor :- Pantheon Books, 1979.

Glasser, Theo re t. "The Aesthetics Qf News'," 'ETC:' A-Review of General' Semantics, 3'7 (Fall 1980)f 2313-24,1

"Hell an Wheels," The Washington Post (June 6, 1981),.0p.Al, A5.

...Hughes, Helen MacGill. News and. the. Humafl_Interest,Story.

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1940.-

Jewett; Robert and .d'ohn Shelton Lawrence. The AmericanMonomyth., Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1977.

' Jewett, Robert and John Shelton Lawrence; "The Problem ofMythic. " Journal of American :Culture, 2:2J

(Summer 1979): 309 -320.

'mss )A../ 0

dr

-.Krim Seymour. "The Newspaper as Literature/Literature as'1.eadership.". In Ronald Weber (ed.) The Reporter asArtist:, A Lookat the_New Journalism Controversy:169-187.

-.Lapham, Lewis H. "GC1ding the News," Harper's, 263 (July1981).: .31-39.

'

Lawrence, J n Shelton and Bernard Timberg. "News andMythic ele t Mayaguez, Entebee, Magadishu,"Journal erican 0 ture, 2:2 (Summer 1979):321-330.

Mead, George Herbert. "The Nature of the,AestheticExperience," in A. J Reck (ed.), The 'Selected Writings

/ of George Herbert Mead (ndl.anapolis: Bobbs-Merrill,1964).

Nye, Russel. The Unembarr4sked Muse: The Popular Arts inAmerica. New York: The Dial Press, 1970.

Pendleton, John and David Manning White, eds. pbpularCulture:. Mirror of American Life. Del Mar,California:', Publisher's Inc., 1977.

-

e..

2. i

Raglan, LQed. The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth, and.,

Drama. New Ybrk: Vintage Books,'1956.,:

Schechter, Harold., "Introduction-: Focus on Myth andAmeriban Popular Art," Journal of AmericanCulture,'2:2 (Summer 1979): 210-216.

Schudson, Michae$4l. .Discovering the News: A Social History.o-P'American Newspapers, New-York: Basic Books, Inc.,1978.

Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration Through Violence: TheMythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860.Middletown, Cbmnecticutl Wesleyan UnrverSity Press,1973.

L.

Steptienson, William. The Play Theory of Mass Communication.Chicago: The University of Chicago Presp, 1967.

Tuchman, Gaye. "Telling Stories," Journallof Communication,26 (Autumn 1976): 92-.97.

g

Tuchman, Gaye. Making News: A Study In the Construction ofReatit. Neal York: *The-Free,Press, 1978.

Wolfe, Tom and E. W. Johnson. The New Journalism. NewYork: 'Harper.g Row,. 1973:

Weber, Ronald, ed.The.Reporter as Artist: A Look at theNew Journalism Controversy: Ne0 York: Hastings House,

/21974.

j

25