Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell | |
|---|---|
Campbell in the late 1970s | |
| Born | Joseph John Campbell March 26, 1904 White Plains, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1987 (aged 83) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Dartmouth College Columbia University (BA, MA) |
| Academic advisor | Roger Sherman Loomis |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Literature |
| Sub-discipline | Comparative mythology |
| Institutions | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Notable works | The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) |
| Notable ideas | Monomyth |
| Influenced | |
Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer and the husband of Jean Erdman. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human condition. Campbell's best-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.
Since the publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theories have been applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. His philosophy has been summarized by his own often repeated phrase: "Follow your bliss." He gained recognition in Hollywood when George Lucas credited Campbell's work as influencing his Star Wars saga.