Myth, narrative, and the worlds we make.

Myths have played a fundamental role in shaping human culture for tens of thousands of years, emerging alongside the development of symbolic thought—the ability to represent concepts, beliefs, and experiences through abstract symbols. They have provided narratives that define values, identities, and truths, continuously evolving to reflect societal changes. A key function of mythology has been its ability to act as a bridge between the past and the present, preserving cultural memory while adapting to contemporary perspectives. Classical mythological stories, in particular, continue to influence modern narratives, shaping contemporary cultural values from various perspectives.

The concept of “Meta-Myth” refers to the self-aware reinterpretation of classical myths in contemporary media for multiple purposes. Using the framework of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces and its universal storytelling structure, it can be examined how different classical myths and symbols have been adapted and revived in modern works. The analysis will centre on the God of War video game series, the Percy Jackson & The Olympians book series, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and Marvel’s Thor comics and film adaptations. These popular culture works exemplify how mythology is reshaped to fit modern narratives, whether by questioning traditional heroism, as seen in God of War, adapting myth for young audiences in Percy Jackson, offering feminist reinterpretations in Circe, or reimagining mythic figures through the superhero genre in Thor.

By exploring these examples, this study highlights the ongoing transformation of mythology and its continued relevance in contemporary storytelling. The concept of Meta-Myth reveals how myths are not static relics of the past but living narratives that evolve to resonate with modern audiences. Through timeless themes such as power, fate, and self-discovery, mythology remains a significant force in shaping cultural consciousness. This study ultimately aims to demonstrate how Meta-Myths reinforce mythology’s adaptability while also serving as valuable cultural and economic assets in the modern creative industry.

Myths have played a fundamental role in shaping human culture for tens of thousands of years, emerging alongside the development of symbolic thought—the ability to represent concepts, beliefs, and experiences through abstract symbols. They have provided narratives that define values, identities, and truths, continuously evolving to reflect societal changes. A key function of mythology has been its ability to act as a bridge between the past and the present, preserving cultural memory while adapting to contemporary perspectives. Classical mythological stories, in particular, continue to influence modern narratives, shaping contemporary cultural values from various perspectives.

The concept of “Meta-Myth” refers to the self-aware reinterpretation of classical myths in contemporary media for multiple purposes. Using the framework of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces and its universal storytelling structure, it can be examined how different classical myths and symbols have been adapted and revived in modern works. The analysis will centre on the God of War video game series, the Percy Jackson & The Olympians book series, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and Marvel’s Thor comics and film adaptations. These popular culture works exemplify how mythology is reshaped to fit modern narratives, whether by questioning traditional heroism, as seen in God of War, adapting myth for young audiences in Percy Jackson, offering feminist reinterpretations in Circe, or reimagining mythic figures through the superhero genre in Thor.

By exploring these examples, this study highlights the ongoing transformation of mythology and its continued relevance in contemporary storytelling. The concept of Meta-Myth reveals how myths are not static relics of the past but living narratives that evolve to resonate with modern audiences. Through timeless themes such as power, fate, and self-discovery, mythology remains a significant force in shaping cultural consciousness. This study ultimately aims to demonstrate how Meta-Myths reinforce mythology’s adaptability while also serving as valuable cultural and economic assets in the modern creative industry.

This paper examines The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath through the combined framework of liminality theory and psychoanalytic criticism, focusing on how the narrative redefines journey as a suspended psychological process rather than a teleological quest. Drawing primarily on Victor Turner’s concept of liminality, the study argues that the Dreamlands constitute a permanent threshold space in which movement occurs without stable orientation or resolution. Randolph Carter’s journey unfolds within this in-between realm, where departure does not lead toward transformation, and return does not result in reintegration.

From a Jungian perspective, the Dreamlands function as a symbolic projection of the collective unconscious, populated by archetypal figures that confront the traveller with fragmented aspects of desire, authority, and selfhood. However, unlike the Jungian model of individuation, Carter’s encounters fail to produce psychic synthesis. Instead, the journey exposes the instability of identity within a cosmology that resists coherence. Freudian psychoanalysis further illuminates this failure by framing Carter’s quest as a regressive movement toward an idealized and irretrievable past. The longing for the gods of childhood dreams reflects a desire shaped by repression and nostalgia, positioning Kadath as an imagined site of fulfillment that ultimately proves illusory.

Although H. P. Lovecraft is well known for his rejection of Freudian psychoanalysis this paper suggests that Freudian structures nonetheless emerge involuntarily within the narrative, a position emphasized by Michel Houellebecq. The pursuit of Kadath reveals the tension between desire and prohibition, culminating in a return that offers recognition without resolution. The study concludes that The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath presents journey as endurance within uncertainty, where liminality becomes a permanent condition and movement itself replaces the promise of transformation.

The idea of liminality is explored in this paper through myth, literature, and modern culture. The narrative begins with the story of an ordinary man who experiences a quiet rupture, and then shifts to two well-known figures: Perseus, sent to face Medusa, and Frodo Baggins, burdened with the Ring. These journeys are linked by a shared structure—familiar life left behind, passage through a dangerous and uncertain middle stage, and return in a transformed state.

Arnold van Gennep’s classic notion of rites of passage and Victor Turner’s focus on liminality are employed to show that thresholds represent moments when social roles and identities fall away, allowing transformation to occur. Joseph Campbell’s idea of the “threshold guardian” and Carl Jung’s concept of archetypes are also drawn upon to explain why such stories resonate across cultures and time.

Finally, modern media is considered to demonstrate how threshold narratives are not only retold but also reshaped into commodities, from toys to digital identities. Nevertheless, their enduring power is emphasized, as threshold experiences are ultimately faced by all: whether mythic hero or ordinary person, the act of crossing remains a shared human experience.

The phrase “New Renaissance” has increasingly emerged in contemporary cultural discussions, often used to describe the intellectual and artistic possibilities arising from technological transformation, especially artificial intelligence and digital media. Yet this optimism coexists with a widespread perception of crisis: declining attention spans, institutional distrust, and the marginalization of the humanities within modern universities. This paper examines whether the present historical moment—characterized by instability, acceleration, and cultural fragmentation—can meaningfully be interpreted through the concept of renaissance.

Rather than treating the Renaissance as a nostalgic “golden age,” the study approaches it as a recurring cultural process that tends to follow periods of institutional exhaustion and epistemological uncertainty. Drawing on historical comparisons with early modern Europe, the paper argues that renaissances often emerge not from dominant institutions but from peripheral intellectual communities, translation movements, and alternative spaces of learning. Contemporary phenomena such as digital para-academic environments, long-form online discourse, and renewed interest in classical texts are analyzed as potential parallels.

At the same time, the paper addresses strong counterarguments suggesting that modern conditions—especially attention fragmentation, extreme specialization, and the absence of a shared metaphysical horizon—may prevent a renaissance from occurring at all. By placing these competing interpretations in dialogue, the presentation proposes that the current “crazy time(s)” should be understood neither as inevitable cultural rebirth nor simple decline, but as a transitional moment in which humanity renegotiates its relationship with knowledge, creativity, and time itself. Ultimately, the paper argues that literature plays a crucial role in such periods by cultivating deep attention, interiority, and continuity with cultural tradition, thereby shaping the very conditions under which any future renaissance could become possible.

Keywords: Renaissance, Crisis, Humanities, Digital Culture, Temporality

One of the greatest impacts digital media has had on our world is the ease with which information spreads. Although this is a concept that benefits all of us greatly, together with social factors it also makes it inevitable that some people will produce false information and present it as scientific. In this study, I will examine examples of pseudoarchaeology presented to audiences in digital media about Göbeklitepe, the superstar of the Taş Tepeler excavations and one of the most important excavation sites in the world today, by comparing them with the facts. I will then reflect on the effects of these examples.

I will define the term pseudoarchaeology using current sources in the literature and discuss how we can identify examples of pseudoarchaeology. In particular, I will assess how scientific terminology, references to sources, and images are used to lend credibility to a narrative. In the next part of the presentation, I will highlight the role of large language models and other generative artificial intelligence tools in the production of this content and examine its possible effects on its own creators.

In the final section, I will address methods of source verification that can be used to evaluate historical and archaeological claims. Through the traceability of sources, the relationship between the evidence presented and the conclusions drawn, and the openness of explanations to criticism, I aim to discuss the distinction between persuasive narratives and reliable academic knowledge.

Since I would like to use this study as my master’s thesis in the future, I have taken care in selecting the sources. The archaeological framework will be based on Lee Clare’s (2020) research on Göbeklitepe, while the discussion of pseudoarchaeology will draw on Archaeological Fantasies (2006), edited by Garrett G. Fagan. The studies by Pennycook et al. (2015) and de Wildt and Aupers (2024) will be used to address pseudo-profundity and belief narratives on social media. Artificial intelligence’s tendency to affirm users’ views and its effects on beliefs will be discussed through the study by Sharma et al. (2023) and the research by Costello et al. (2024; 2026, preprint). ACRL’s (2016) information literacy framework will be used in the section on evaluating the reliability of sources.

Keywords: Göbeklitepe, pseudoarchaeology, pseudo-intellectualism, generative artificial intelligence, media literacy.