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Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press-University Press of New England, 1973.
Chapter 3: A Home in the Heart of Darkness: The Origin of the Indian War Narratives (1625-1682)
But first, a wildly out of context quote from the incomparable Stephen Jay Gould: "Mythology does have its use as a powerful aid to narrative" (Wonderful Life 81). Gould is talking about a different subject, but the same problem: the way that mythology shapes stories, the way that it's easier to tell the story the mythology expects than it is to tell what really happened. And the way that that warps the story you're trying to tell.
( The lack of human heroes in the King Philips War tracts is remarkable. )
Chapter 3: A Home in the Heart of Darkness: The Origin of the Indian War Narratives (1625-1682)
But first, a wildly out of context quote from the incomparable Stephen Jay Gould: "Mythology does have its use as a powerful aid to narrative" (Wonderful Life 81). Gould is talking about a different subject, but the same problem: the way that mythology shapes stories, the way that it's easier to tell the story the mythology expects than it is to tell what really happened. And the way that that warps the story you're trying to tell.
( The lack of human heroes in the King Philips War tracts is remarkable. )
