The Laurasian Academy
devoted to comparative mythology
Contributions welcome via the IACM discussion group
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Origins of the World's Mythologies
Oxford University Press, NY, Fall 2009 Publisher's announcement (blurb), (cover)
This book discusses the African origin and the subsequent spread of early mythology: first, eastwards along the shores of the Indian Ocean (Gondwana), and then northwards to the rest of Eurasia and the Americas (Laurasia).
These two major types of mythology are established by employing a comparative historical method. Their salient features are discussed --such as the "Laurasian story line" from the origin of the world to its end. Overlaps are adduced with archaeology, genetics and linguistics.
The investigation ends with a brief history of mythology, from the late Palaeolithic to the emergence of state societies, and its persisting, even increasing importance for most of the world's people today.
The method used in this book is innovative as it combines traditional comparative approaches with a historical component. This allows for the reconstruction of successive stages of myth development, from the earliest written (and oral) records back to the ancestral tales of the "African Eve".
International Association of Comparative Mythology
(IACM) Founded 2006, Inc. 2008.
3rd International Conference on Comparative Mythology, Tokyo, May 23-24, 2009.
Announcement and discussion group