co-authored proposal
Abstract: Epic stories like The Odyssey, the Aeneid, or more recently The Lord of the Rings are universally accepted and beloved stories. But beyond mere entertainment, these fictional accounts engage humanity at deep formative levels, especially utilizing the genre of myth to interact with and promote metaphysical and ethical realities deemed key to human existence. This paper builds on a book in process (a cultural anthropology text), which highlights the role that myth plays in Star Wars storytelling.
To date, much attention has been given to Star Wars regarding its overlap with and/or promotion of religions like Christianity, Buddhism, etc. Similarly, a myriad of different treatments have explored the political theory that is promoted through the Star Wars narratives. However, few, if any, of the works in the historiography have examined the way in which Star Wars not only shaped contemporary culture but was also, at times, shaped by it, specifically in relation to its mythological foundations or lack thereof.
Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to use Star Wars as an example of storytelling that leverages myth to especially force audiences to consider metaphysical realities, while also promoting certain ethical virtues, the highest of these being sacrifice and redemption. Specific attention will be given to the Original Trilogy. But other more modern Star Wars stories, will also help to provide contextual texture to our main thesis.