Artigo Acesso aberto

New Publications

2012; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 73; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/crln.73.2.8713

ISSN

2150-6698

Autores

George M. Eberhαrt,

Resumo

argues that human imagination, language, storytelling, and religion developed in the Pleistocene as fearreduction responses to the constant threats posed by numerous large animals (cave bears, saber-toothed cats, short-faced hyenas, crocodilians) that fed on them.Animal predators, Trout writes, were anthropomorphized and mythologized at the dawn of human consciousness into monsters, gods, benefactors, and role models, a system of control and acculturation that transformed fearful, helpless primates into the "alpha predator of the planet."Narratives about dangerous animals and monsters gave early civilizations a cohesive set of rules for survival and methods for controlling fear that persist in contemporary horror films about rampaging monsters (Jaws, Alien) and human predators (Manhunter, Wolf Creek).Trout's logical, well-referenced thesis turns upside-down Joseph Campbell's conjecture that myth developed from the psychological tensions of the hunt.$26.00.Prometheus.

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