Philosophical Literature
Put on your best serious-scholar black turtleneck and your studious wire-framed glasses: we're getting philosophical.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces is straight-up philosophy, demonstrating a keen way of looking at the universe and presenting something that teaches us to look at the world in a brand-spankin' new way. But since it does that by studying stories, it becomes a weird kind of philosophical literature by default.
That comes about in two ways.
The first is by the sheer amount of examples that Campbell floods us with: Irish legends, Christian fables, Hindu religious text, native America folklore… the guy covers it all.
But more important, Campbell's philosophy actually serves as a blueprint for literature, by demonstrating how a story can be told and inviting aspiring authors to fill in the blanks. Making it really resonate may be tough—Luke, Harry and Katniss are hard to top—but if you want a first-rate road map to point you in the right direction, Campbell's your man.