"foundational myths" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It refers to the myths or stories that form the basis or foundation of a belief system or culture. Example: The ancient Greeks had a rich collection of foundational myths, such as the stories of Zeus and the other gods, that were used to explain natural phenomena and teach important moral lessons.
Every august institution has its foundational myths.
E-mail address GO SIGN UP Share Tweet Every august institution has its foundational myths.
Some of the grandest works in the literary canon – the Odyssey, the Aeneid, the Bible and the Qur'an – present refugees as heroes, prophets or messiahs, whose journeys are among the foundational myths of modern society.
America's foundational myths – and its foundational history – lie far back beyond the banner era and primary locale of American myth-making, which were, of course, the second half of the 19th century and the untamed west.
Rorty's attack encouraged analytic philosophy to self-examination and led some thinkers within that tradition to re-examine the foundational myths at the basis of their own ways of practising and conceiving of philosophy.
Winning on the world stage is accompanied by folk theories and foundational myths regarding essential cultural and sporting attributes that are thought to distinguish national character.
That French settlers bested the Mayflower Pilgrims may surprise Americans raised on our foundational myth, but the record is clear.
Another Clinton or Bush in the White House might make some Americans reëxamine the foundational myth of equal opportunity, but it will not call into question the integrity of the State.
Collins devotes the very entertaining first quarter of her book to the foundational myth of Texas' brief, shining moment as an independent republic from 1836 to 1845 and the sacred memory of the Alamo.
The stories became a foundational myth for her and inspired Everything Is Teeth, a visual memoir with beautifully drawn illustrations by Joe Sumner, whom she has known since undergraduate days at Bath Spa University.
And when the author of Matthew's gospel describes Jesus as a child refugee, fleeing his country from a despotic ruler intent on taking his life – Herod not Assad – he is deliberately sampling that basic foundational myth of the Exodus.
