The main methods for hylistic research are:
- Hyleme analysis = reconstruction of the ‘building blocks’ (= hylemes) of a narrative variant (or of a sequence of events)
- Sequence analysis = demarcation and determination of the completeness of narrative materials (or of sequences of events)
- Stratification analysis = analysis of detectable strata per narrative variant (or per sequence of events)
- Media analysis = interpretation of intention and way of representation of the medial concretisation of a narrative variant (or of a sequence of events)
- Comparative analysis (optional) = comparison of reconstructed narrative variants (or of sequences of events)
The individual methodological steps are not to be carried out strictly one after the other, but rather complement each other and, when applied repeatedly and with advances and setbacks, bring us ever closer to the goal of interpreting myths in the form of a hermeneutic spiral.
➔ Interpreting myths depends on these methods, which form the prerequisite and foundation for the task.
In some ways, methods such as hyleme analysis and stratification analysis prepare for hermeneutics; in other ways, they not only prepare but also lead to initial hermeneutic insights into the shaping or changing of narratives.
Short introduction to hylistics with a case study:
Zgoll, C., 2026, „Hylistik und Mythosforschung“, in: V. Schulz/ A. Schwab (Hg.), Moderne Zugänge zu antiken Texten: Theorien, Konzepte, Methoden und ihre Anwendung, UTB-Studienbücher, Stuttgart, 181-210 (forthcoming).