227130

The narrator as a demythologizer: Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

This paper posits that Martin Ruiz, the narrator of Peter Shaffer's drama The Royal Hunt of the Sun, serves as a catalyst for demythologization. The paper first offers a brief account of the concept of demythologization, coined by German philosopher Rudolf Bultmann, and heavily influenced by the writings of fellow German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Bultmann's two suggested phases of demythologization, namely, negative and positive demythologization are discussed in order to shed light on the role played by the narrator as a demythologizer of events. The narrator is dramatized as two distinct characters, Old Martin and Young Martin, each of whom represents a different perspective than the other, from a different temporal vantage point. Old Martin is the one who engages the audience in deconstructing the play's events and characters, while Young Martin goes through the events themselves, unaware of what the future holds. This elicits the collective engagement of the audience, even if unconsciously.

DOI

10.21608/ejels.2021.227130

Keywords

myths, Rudolf Bultmann, demythologization, existentialist interpretation, Martin Heidegger, Peter Shaffer, The Royal Hunt of the Sun

Authors

First Name

Zeinab

Last Name

Hussein

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

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Email

zeinab.mohamed@edu.asu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

0000-0003-2753-104X

Volume

10

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

32568

Issue Date

2021-12-01

Receive Date

2022-03-26

Publish Date

2021-12-01

Page Start

149

Page End

170

Print ISSN

2735-4431

Online ISSN

2735-4830

Link

https://ejels.journals.ekb.eg/article_227130.html

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https://ejels.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=227130

Order

5

Type

Scientific Articles

Type Code

1,594

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of English Language and Literature Studies

Publication Link

https://ejels.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The narrator as a demythologizer: Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Jan 2023