The English Department
Subject: Mythopoesis in the writings of Jonathan Swift.
Advisor: Prof. Sanford Budick.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the mythopoetic function in Swift’s satirical and poetic writings. Metaphor, specifically in its mythical expression, is the deepest condition for signification in Swift’s oeuvre. While laying out the malfunctional hermeneutics of literalism, Swift seeks cooperation with his capable reader to harness myth as a productive vehicle for communication. The examination of Swift’s mythopoesis will integrate three different elements: myth’s constitutive relation to semantics, representations of the literary reception of myth, and lastly the interlocking of religious and mythical structures in Swift’s fictional worlds.
President Scholarship 2022/23