Vilnius pedagogical university faculty of foreign languages department of english philology

The novel which assuredly sets out to retell an acknowledged myth;

Works in which the author uses myth as a means of literary allusion, intended to attract the attention of the reader and to add a significance to a theme or situation by means of illustration or parallel;

Conscious use [of myth] as a structural element;

A mythical structure […] within the novel without conscious development by the author;

The situation of an author who claims himself, or who is claimed by critics, to be creating a new myth. (Quoted by White, pp. 51-52)

However, this typology is quite awkward, and for that reason White’s differentiation is worth mentioning. He divides mythological literature into four groups. The first two of them always name their myths; the other two may contain only veiled allusions to mythology. The four types are:

1. 
   The complete re-narration of a classical myth. With this method the author names the mythological characters and settings described, so the myths involved are not the subject of doubt.
   
2. 
   A juxtaposition of sections narrating a myth and others concerned with the contemporary world. The best examples of this type are the following novels: John Bowen’s A World Elsewhere (1965) and David Stacton’s Kaliyuga (1965). One problem with this kind of a mythological novel is that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish what is more important – the mythological parts or the contemporary ones; what, in turn, puzzles the distinctions between motif and the main theme.
   
3. 
   A novel set in the modern world, which contains a pattern of references to mythology running through the work. The best known novels of this type are James Joyce’s Ulysses, Mann’s Doctor Faustus and Updike’s The Centaur. The titles of these novels name their myths explicitly. However, there are novels which do not possess a mythological title and which employ a covert system of correspondences to their myths. Such novels are, for example, Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Les Gommes (1963) and Bernard Malamud’s The Natural (1952).
   
4. 
   A novel in which a mythological motif prefigures a part of the narrative (a single event, a character or a limited group of people), but without running consistently through the whole narrative, as in type 3.
   

In dealing with types 3 and 4 it is crucial to distinguish between mythology and archetypes. In some cases, it is difficult to ascertain whether a veiled motif of a particular myth is embodied in the novel or whether it merely shares a particular archetypal pattern which does not relate to myth. The danger here arises because a reader or a critic may in such cases find mythological allusions which were not intended by the author.

4. 
   RITUAL AS AN UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE OF UPDIKE’S NOVELS
   

As Edward P. Vargo writes in his book Rainstorms and Fire, the majority of Updike’s writings: The Poorhouse Fair (1959); Rabbit, Run (1960); The Centaur (1963), Of the Farm (1965); Couples (1968); Rabbit Redux (1971) have ritual as their main underlying principle. To be more precise, the writer very often employs ritual, which in its turn encompasses pattern, myth, and celebration.
On the most evident level, ritual is the performance of an easily defined pattern – a kind of repeatable form, usually consisting of language and gesture. However, on the deeper level ritual becomes the system of repetitions that makes time intelligible to man (Rainstorms and Fire, p. 16). Consequently, rituals extend over simple repetitions; they tend to become a special symbolic communication. The main function of ritual in this way is “to sustain whatever belief man has and to make it meaningful by a rehearsed repetition […] we need certain patterns of action which signify the way we look at things”. (Rainstorms and Fire, p. 17)
By pattern – the first element comprising the notion of a ritual, the shape of the novel is meant. Updike enjoys working particularly on the pattern of his writings, he has even spoken of Rabbit, Run as a “pattern of Zs”. Of the Farm resembles an “X”, while The Centaur is shaped like a “sandwich” and The Poorhouse Fair like a “gladiola” (Quoted by Vargo, p. 18).
The next element in this structure is a myth. As it was mentioned above, the term of myth reckons up an endless number of definitions and concepts. Too often it is understood as an attempt to explain the natural phenomena, however, in this case, by myth “a dramatic tale, a narrative which is a product of the human imagination” (Rainstorms and Fire, p.19) is meant. Myth touches what have always existed and will exist in the future – the problem of life and death. It reflects what really happened, be it in time immemorial or in our childhood. Moreover, myth shapes our present attitudes and behaviour, it is a guide to our modern life.
Finally, the last element of the ritual is celebration. It exists on the emotional level of experience, as Vargo puts it, and is “the existential initiation or achievement of an exaltation through the union of past and present, of the sensual, emotional, and rational” (Rainstorms and Fire, p.20). Celebration in Updike’s writings may even reach “the point of communion with the ultimate, with total Being” (Rainstorms and Fire, p. 20).
It should be also mentioned that myth in Updike’s works is created by constant return to events of the mythic childhood or the past in general. These returns are always a significant point of the particular work, when the myth helps the characters to reconcile the clash
between inward and outward forces of their present lives, to overcome the disharmonies of life, and at that moment “the stage is set for the flowering of ritual in celebration” as Edward
P. Vargo writes. “The chief function of celebration may be considered the externalization of man’s religious feelings and the tangible embodiment of the transcendent.” (Rainstorms and Fire, p. 20) Besides, this celebration resembles the Joycean epiphany, “an event in which an encompassing whole is mediated to us through a particular object or action” (Quoted by Vargo, p.20)
In conclusion, Vargo states, that as far as the notion of ritual is concerned, it is impossible to discuss The Poorhouse Fair without considering sacred time and Rabbit, Run without the need for repetition and celebration. The Centaur embodies all the elements of ritual to bring its protagonists to a new reality. Of the Farm illustrates the notion of sacred place, while Couples and Rabbit Redux focus upon desperate search for ceremonies. According to Edward P. Vargo: