Editing Joseph Campbell (section)

==Academic reception and criticism==
Campbell's approach to myth, a genre of [[folklore]], has been the subject of criticism from [[folklorist]]s, academics who specialize in [[folklore studies]]. American folklorist [[Barre Toelken]] says that few psychologists have taken the time to become familiar with the complexities of folklore, and that, historically, Jung-influenced psychologists and authors have tended to build complex theories around single versions of a tale that support a theory or a proposal. To illustrate his point, Toelken employs [[Clarissa Pinkola Estés]]'s (1992) ''[[Women Who Run with the Wolves]]'', citing its inaccurate representation of the folklore record, and Campbell's "monomyth" approach as another. Regarding Campbell, Toelken writes, "Campbell could construct a monomyth of the hero only by citing those stories that fit his preconceived mold, and leaving out equally valid stories… which did not fit the pattern".  Toelken traces the influence of Campbell's monomyth theory into other then-contemporary popular works, such as [[Robert Bly]]'s ''[[Iron John: A Book About Men]]'' (1990), which he says suffers from similar source selection bias.{{sfn|Toelken|1996 |p= 413}}

Similarly, American folklorist [[Alan Dundes]] was highly critical of both Campbell's approach to folklore, designating him as a "non-expert" and gives various examples of what he considers source bias in Campbell's theories, as well as media representation of Campbell as an expert on the subject of myth in popular culture. Dundes writes, "Folklorists have had some success in publicising the results of our efforts in the past two centuries such that members of other disciplines have, after a minimum of reading, believe they are qualified to speak authoritatively of folkloristic matters. It seems that the world is full of self-proclaimed experts in folklore, and a few, such as Campbell, have been accepted as such by the general public (and public television, in the case of Campbell)". According to Dundes, "there is no single idea promulgated by amateurs that has done more harm to serious folklore study than the notion of archetype".{{sfn |Dundes|2016|pp= 16–18, 25}}

According to anthropologist Raymond Scupin, "Joseph Campbell's theories have not been well received in anthropology because of his overgeneralizations, as well as other problems."{{sfn|Scupin|2000|p=77}}

Campbell's Sanskrit scholarship has been questioned. [[Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson]], a former Sanskrit professor at the [[University of Toronto]], said that he once met Campbell, and that the two "hated each other at sight", commenting that, "When I met Campbell at a public gathering he was quoting Sanskrit verses. He had no clue as to what he was talking about; he had the most superficial knowledge of India but he could use it for his own aggrandizement. I remember thinking: this man is corrupt. I know that he was simply ''lying'' about his understanding".<ref>Larsen, Stephen; Larsen, Robin (1991). ''[[iarchive:fireinmind00lars/page/510/|A Fire in the Mind: The Life of Joseph Campbell]]''. Doubleday, p. 510.</ref> According to Richard Buchen, librarian of the Joseph Campbell Collection at the Pacifica Graduate Institute, Campbell could not translate Sanskrit well, but worked closely with three scholars who did.{{sfn|Buchen|2008|pp=363, 378}}

Ellwood observes that ''The Masks of God'' series "impressed literate laity more than specialists"; he quotes Stephen P. Dunn as remarking that in ''Occidental Mythology'' Campbell "writes in a curiously archaic style&nbsp;– full of rhetorical questions, exclamations of wonder and delight, and expostulations directed at the reader, or perhaps at the author's other self&nbsp;– which is charming about a third of the time and rather annoying the rest." Ellwood says that "Campbell was not really a social scientist, and those in the latter camp could tell" and records a concern about Campbell's "oversimplification of historical matters and tendency to make myth mean whatever he wanted it to mean".{{sfn|Ellwood|1999|pp= 131–32, 148, 153}} The critic [[Camille Paglia]], writing in ''[[Sexual Personae]]'' (1990), expressed disagreement with Campbell's "negative critique of fifth-century Athens" in ''Occidental Mythology'', arguing that Campbell missed the "visionary and exalted" androgyny in Greek statues of nude boys.{{sfn|Paglia|1991|pp=115–16}} Paglia has written that while Campbell is "a seminal figure for many American feminists", she loathes him for his "mawkishness and bad research." Paglia has called Campbell "mushy" and a "false teacher",{{sfn|Paglia|1992|pp=114, 241}} and described his work as a "fanciful, showy mishmash".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.salon.com/2009/11/11/pelosi_7/ | date= November 10, 2009 |title= Pelosi's Victory for Women| website= [[Salon.com]] | first= Camille | last= Paglia | access-date= April 22, 2015}}</ref>

Campbell has also been accused of [[antisemitism]] by some authors. In ''[[Tikkun (magazine)|Tikkun]]'' magazine, Tamar Frankiel noted that Campbell called Judaism the "Yahweh Cult" and that he spoke of Judaism in almost exclusively negative terms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Frankiel |first=Tamar |date=May–June 1989 |title=New Age Mythology: A Jewish Response to Joseph Campbell |page=23 |work=Tikkun |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2892978-4-3-8-New-Age-Mythology-a-Jewish-Response-to.html |access-date=March 26, 2023}}</ref> In a 1989 ''[[New York Review of Books]]'' article, [[Brendan Gill]] accused Campbell of both antisemitism and prejudice against blacks.<ref>{{cite news|title= After Death, a Writer Is Accused of Anti-Semitism |website= The New York Times |date= November 6, 1989|last=Bernstein |first= Richard |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/06/arts/after-death-a-writer-is-accused-of-anti-semitism.html}}</ref> Gill's article resulted in a series of letters to the editor, some supporting the charge of antisemitism and others defending him. However, according to [[Robert S. Ellwood]], Gill relied on "scraps of evidence, largely anecdotal" to support his charges.{{sfn |Ellwood|1999|pp=131–132, 148, 153}} In 1991, Masson also accused Campbell of "hidden anti-Semitism" and "fascination with conservative, semifascistic views".{{sfn |Masson|1991|p= 206}} Robert A. Segal's ''Joseph Campbell on Jews and Judaism'' offers 70 references.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Segal |first1=Robert A |title=Joseph Campbell on Jews and Judaism |journal=Religion |date=April 1992 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=151–170 |doi=10.1016/0048-721X(92)90056-A }}</ref>