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Trevor Sotela's Wikipedia Trickster article for ENGL2131.1

Analysis of Article

The paragraph about trickster's in mythology could use some work. the paragraph is too vague in it's examples, where the Native American trickster has it's own section dedicated to it. Also the summery paragraph at the beginning could use more information.

Reading List

A numbered list of all your readings go here. Use the following format:

• Rosenberg, Donna. (1997). Folklore, Myths, and Legend's: A World Perspective
• Garry, Jane and El-Shamy, Hasan. (2005). Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Liturature
• Author’s name. (Date). Short title.
• Alexander, Harriet Semmes. (1984). American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism, 1925-1978

Revised paragraph from article

Original

Tricksters are archetypal characters who appear in the myths of many different cultures. Lewis Hyde describes the Trickster as a "boundary-crosser".^[2] The Trickster crosses both physical and often breaks societal rules. Tricksters "...violate principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis."^[3]

Often, the bending/breaking of rules takes the form of tricks or thievery. Tricksters can be cunning or foolish or both. The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority. They are usually male characters, and are fond of breaking rules, boasting, and playing tricks on both humans and gods.

All cultures have tales of the Trickster, a crafty creature who uses cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. In some Greek myths Hermes plays the Trickster. He is the patron of thieves and the inventor of lying, a gift he passed on to Autolycus, who in turn passed it on to Odysseus.^[2] In Slavic folktales, the trickster and the culture hero are often combined.

Loki cuts the hair of the goddess Sif.

Frequently the Trickster figure exhibits gender and form variability. In Norse mythology the mischief-maker is Loki, who is also a shape shifter. Loki also exhibits gender variability, in one case even becoming pregnant. He becomes a mare who later gives birth to Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

British scholar Evan Brown suggested that Jacob in the Bible has many of the characteristics of the Trickster:

In The Trickster and the Paranormal, G.P. Hansen lists Mercury in Roman mythology, and Eshu in Yoruba mythology as examples of the Trickster archetype.

Revised

Tricksters are archetypal characters who appear in the myths of many different cultures. Lewis Hyde describes the Trickster as a "boundary-crosser".^[2] The Trickster crosses both physical and often breaks societal rules. Tricksters "...violate principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis."^[3]

Often, the bending/breaking of rules takes the form of tricks or thievery. Tricksters can be cunning or foolish or both. The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority. They are usually male characters, and are fond of breaking rules, boasting, and playing tricks on both humans and gods. This often leads to either the trickster himself, or his victims to fall prey to some evil. In the story of Anansi, Anansi brings death into the world of humans.

Almost all cultures have tales of the Trickster, a crafty creature who uses cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. In some Greek myths Hermes plays the Trickster. He is the patron of thieves and the inventor of lying, a gift he passed on to Autolycus, who in turn passed it on to Odysseus.^[2] In Slavic folktales, the trickster and the culture hero are often combined. Many cultures view the trickster in a heroic light instead of the villain. They see the intelligence and cunning of the trickster as a good quality.

Loki cuts the hair of the goddess Sif.

Frequently the Trickster figure exhibits gender and form variability. In Norse mythology the mischief-maker is Loki, who is also a shape shifter. Loki also exhibits gender variability, in one case even becoming pregnant. He becomes a mare who later gives birth to Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

In The Trickster and the Paranormal, G.P. Hansen lists Mercury in Roman mythology, and Eshu in Yoruba mythology as examples of the Trickster archetype.

Anansi

In African folklore the character of Anansi appears over and over. Anansi is often the focal point of many African stories. He symbolizes knowledge in many of the traditional stories from Africa. As with many tricksters, Anansi is a shape shifter, Although he often is shown to be in the form a of a spider, he also takes the shape of am man in some stories. As the symbol of knowledge he is often playing the role of a trickster in his stories. In one story he constantly steals food from Death without anyone knowing, but as many tricksters find their actions have consequences, he unintentionally brings Death to humans.

Notes

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