Experimentar el mito: adaptación o destrucción (un caso de análisis del fanfiction artúrico desde la perspectiva de la lingüística cognitiva)

Abstract

The paper deals with the ways Arthurian myth exists in the contemporary world, looking into the correlation between the ontologically basic narrative and the newly evolved phenomenon of the digital age – fanfiction. Myth is proved to be not a relict of the past, but a tool for cognizing the world. Experiencing myth proceeds through its personalization requiring adaptation. The limits of possible transformations is explored in fanfiction stories making the concept different yet still recognizable. By means of analyzing the stories with one core characteristic of the concept of King Arthur being changed we conclude, that the other characteristics become reinforced and the more abstract ideas are brought to the linguistic level repeated through major words like story, legend, myth, hero. The myth evolves through experimenting with the image, not with reinforcing the stereotypical characteristics for it exists only through the narrative told by people.