ABSTRACT
The mythical element in life stories is the pre-established framework within which individuals explain their personal history: the mental construct which, starting from the memory of individual facts which would otherwise appear incoherent and arbitrary, goes on to arrange and interpret them and so turn them into biographical events. Such mythical frameworks are common in all societies. They are especially widespread in societies undergoing rapid development and change, where individuals tell their histories as a kind of progress or journey. America has been carried away by the slogan of the self-made man, who builds up his fortune and honour by his own efforts, an example for the whole nation. In the capacity of researcher and interviewer, the collector of life stories can extend the narrator’s capacity to stand back and can facilitate a disposition to objectivity; but by mistakes or clumsiness, he can also reduce this capacity.
