Roland Barthes, "Mythologies" (repost)

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Roland Barthes, "Mythologies" (repost)

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In this magnificent collection of essays, Barthes explores the myths of mass culture taking subjects as diverse as wrestling, films, plastic and cars, deciphering the symbols and signs within familiar aspects of modern life and, in so doing, unmasking the hidden ideologies and meanings which implicitly affect our thought and behaviour.

In Mythologies, Barthes offers a series of snapshots with titles such as "Plastic," "Striptease," "Toys," "The World of Wrestling," and "Operation Margarine." His aim is to reveal the ideological abuse hidden in these myths, which are manufactured to read as reality.

As scholars of folklore and mythology were looking at their own past as well as currently to explore the narratives of the past and of "primative" peoples, Roland Barthes was looking at the world around him in France in the 1950s to the early 1970s. Why are human beings drawn to folktales, fairy tales, mythic figures? Barthes discovers that this draw surrounds us everyday, used both commerically and unconsciously from the personas of professional wrestlers (who resemble those seen on American television today) to our discussions of public figures. Mythology, Barthes argues, is a vital and living part of our society but it is also one used without real understanding because it is so deeply ingrained in the human mind and heart. The essays are light so that the non-specialist can enjoy but deep enough that the scholar can see and understand the theory underneath.

“Like so many modern artists, [Barthes] saw the deeper themes running through supposedly banal things.”
— Daily Express –

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Roland Barthes, "Mythologies" (repost)

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