The Mermaid and Orpheus: mythological construction of the Voice

The Mermaid and Orpheus: mythological construction of the Voice
Авторы (текстом)
V. V. Merlin
Yad Vashem historical archives
Keywords
myth, set theory, Voice, Mermaid, Orpheus
Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe the myth in terms of the set theory. It is argued that mathematical schematism is inherent to the myth and may be discovered through etymological and narrative analyses. Within that framework the Voice model is constructed that applies both to literary and folklore
texts and overrides the orality / scripturalty controversy. The mermaids
voice in Slavic folklore and the Orpheus voice in Ovid’s Metamorphoses are
represented as the continuum transforming into the set of all sets, which explains the Orphic creationism and the sirens fertile power. The continuum is
shown as equivalent to the diffuse set and to Derrida’s Pharmakon. The analogous
mathematical model – the Cantor Dust – is examined compared to Meillassoux’s Hyperchaos and Badiou’s ontology of the multiple.

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Bibliographic reference
V. V. Merlin The Mermaid and Orpheus: mythological construction of the Voice // Критика и семиотика. 2016. № 1. Pp. 127–142.