MITO KALBA KAIP PASAULIO ĮVALDYMO BŪDAS
The Language of Myth as a Means of Mastering the World

Summary/Abstract: The article is based on the assumption that the perception of the significance of language is a characteristic feature as far back as pre-theoretical human images of the world. The emphasis on the power of language in myths, as well as its influence on primitive people, suggests that the archaean mind perceives language as a given reality that in its sureness equals or even surpasses physical reality. The indistinctiveness of objective and subjective aspects, the wholeness of reality and experience characteristic of pre-theoretical thinking conditioned the sameness of both the language and the world reality for a person. Since the possibility of a name to represent beings and things is perceived as the magical power of a word, the naming which indicates their relationship is treated as an equivalent of the essence of things. Giving prominence to names used in myths, a belief in the creative power of a word, and in its substantiality and self-contained value, suggest that the recognition of the active role of language in a person's relationship with the world is natural to archaean thinking. By reasoning about the role of language in myths, we seek to emphasize that the understanding of the significance of language has deep historical roots. In the article, we justify the assumption that the pre-theoretical perception of language power becomes the base line for theoretical reflection on the role of language.

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