Scottish social anthropologist whose monumental comparative mythology work The Golden Bough synthesized global data on magic, religion, fertility cults, and dying-and-rising gods, profoundly shaping 20th-century thought on religion and culture.
Established the systematic comparative study of myth and ritual; the dying-and-rising god archetype and scapegoat mechanism he documented became foundational for literary modernism, Jungian psychology, and the history of religions.
Discussing
Ask anything about James Frazer — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.
Sign in to start a conversation.