Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell

• After the explosion of popularity brought on by the Star Wars films and The Power of Myth, creative artists in many media recognised the potential to use Joseph Campbell's theories to try and unlock human responses to narrative patterns in Media
• Novelists, songwriters, video game designers and amusement park ride designers have studied Campbell's work in order to better their understanding of mythology - in particular, the monomyth and its impact
• One of Campbell's most identifiable, most quoted and most misunderstood sayings was to 'follow your bliss.' Campbell began sharing this idea with students during lectures in the 1970s. By the time that The Power of Myth was aired in 1988, 6 months following Campbell's death, 'Follow your bliss' was a philosophy that resonated deeply with the Americal public - both religious and secular
• (March 26, 1904 - October 30, 1987)
• He was an American mythologist, writher and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comprative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience.
• He began to speak publicly on world myth and continue to do so at colleges, churches, lecture halls, on radio and on television for the rest of his life
• The role of hero figured largely in Campbell's comparative studies. In 1949 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' introduces Campbell's idea of the monomyth, outlining some of the archetypal patterns that Campbell recognized. Heroes were important to Campbell because to him, they conveyed universal truths about one's personal self-discovery and self-transcendence, one's role in society, and the relation between the two.