Cambridge Classical Anthropology set the pattern of the ritualist theory of myth. Later anthropology has found the modern tribesmen or remote cultures of Australia, Oceania, Africa or South America to be quite efficient and practical in their every-day ways of thinking and doing things. Myth and language . Another trend of research concentrated on studying myth as a phenomenon of language, or, simply, as a text. The structuralist approach employs the theory of communication through defining semantic oppositions within a text.
Myth is regarded as a textual message.
He enumerates 31 function , or move, of the plot, in various combinations, yet in a general sequence, where a typical firy-tale hero is put to the task to fix a problem and has to go far away. On his way he faces additional challenges, finds the magical helpers, faces the antagonist, undergoes a stage of temporary death and, finally, fulfills the primary task, gains an additional bonus and wins the bride. Suddenly became popular. Applied to other genres, such as heroic poems or myths.