A
mythographer, or a
mythologist, according to a strict dictionary definition, is a compiler of
myths.
Mythography (from
Greek µ?????af?a -
mythografia, "writing of fables"
[1], from
µ???? -
mythos,"speech, word, fact, story, narrative" +
???f? -
grapho, "to write, to inscribe") is then the rendering of myths in the arts. These are rather restrictive definitions, which can be said to fail to take into account the large body of
twentieth century work on myth from many angles. The compilation of myths assumes some
field work; and the aim may be to produce something of value to
cultural anthropology,
religious studies, or a
myth theory, rather than simply as raw material for transformation into artistic productions.
Already in the nineteenth century there was a tendency to produce large-scale myth theories, such as those of Max Müller, Andrew Lang, Wilhelm Mannhardt, and James Frazer. Scholars such as Carl Jung, Georges Dumezil, and Claude Levi-Strauss have continued this tradition in the twentieth century.
It has been a consistent strand of Romanticism, to insist on a level of validity of myth, and these arguments have often connected myth with the creative imagination. These notions come together in the concept of mythopoeic imagination, which has been articulated in the anthropological work of Jadran Mimica (Intimations of Infinity, 1988), among others. Theories with an academic basis which support this thinking have been popular, in the sense of receiving much attention; without ever being able to support claims of reliability acceptable to more rationalistic perspectives.
Mythography is the study of the study of myths (the study of myths itself being mythology), as well. In examining how mythology has been studied, one can see the differences and similarities readily, as evidenced by William Doty's Mythography The Study of Myths and Rituals.
