Mythologies

Mythologies

Mythologies is split into two: Mythologies and Myth Today, the first section consisting of a collection of essays on selected modern myths and the second further and general analysis of the concept. The first section of Mythologies describes a selection of modern cultural phenomena, chosen for their status as modern myths and for the added meaning that has been conferred upon them. Each short chapter analyses one such myth, ranging from Einstein's Brain to Soap Powders and Detergents. They were originally written as a series of bi-monthly essays for the magazine Les Lettres Nouvelles.

In a typical example, Barthes describes the image that has been built up around red wine and how it has been adopted as a French national drink, how it is seen as a social equaliser and the drink of the proletariat, partly because it is seen as blood-like (as in Holy Communion) and points out that very little attention is paid to red wine's harmful effects to health, but that it is instead viewed as life-giving and refreshing — 'in cold weather, it is associated with all the myths of becoming warm, and at the height of summer, with all the images of shade, with all things cool and sparkling.'[1]

In another chapter, Barthes explores the myth of professional wrestling. He describes how, unlike in the sport of boxing, the aim of theatrical stunt fighting is not to discover who will win or 'a demonstration of excellence',[2] it is a staged spectacle acting out society's basic concepts of good and evil, of 'Suffering, Defeat and Justice'.[3] The actors pretending to be wrestlers, like characters in a pantomime, portray grossly-exaggerated stereotypes of human weakness: the traitor, the conceited, the 'effeminate teddy-boy'. The audience expects to watch them suffer and be punished for their own transgressions of wrestling's rules in a theatrical version of society's ideology of justice.

Essays in English translation of Mythologies

  • "The World of Wrestling" (professional wrestling)
  • "The Romans in Films" (the 1953 American film Julius Caesar)
  • "The Writer on Holiday" (an article in Le Figaro about André Gide's travels in the Congo)
  • "The 'Blue Blood' Cruise" (a yacht cruise taken by European royalty to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II)
  • "Blind and Dumb Criticism"
  • "Soap-powders and Detergents" (advertisements for Omo and Persil detergents)
  • "The Poor and the Proletariat" (Charlie Chaplin)
  • "Operation Margarine" (From Here to Eternity; the Jules Roy play Les Cyclones; Graham Greene's The Living Room; advertisements for Astra brand margarine)
  • "Dominici, or the Triumph of Literature" (the Dominici Affair)
  • "The Iconography of the Abbé Pierre"
  • "Novels and Children" (Elle magazine on women novelists)
  • "Toys"
  • "The Face of Garbo" (Greta Garbo in Queen Christina)
  • "Wine and Milk"
  • "Steak and Chips"
  • "The Nautilus and the Drunken Boat" (the novels of Jules Verne)
  • "The Brain of Einstein"
  • "The Jet-man"
  • "The Blue Guide"
  • "Ornamental Cookery" (food photography in Elle magazine)
  • "Neither-Nor Criticism"
  • "Striptease"
  • "The New Citroën" (the Citroën DS 19)
  • "Photography and Electoral Appeal" (photographs of French politicians)
  • "The Lost Continent"
  • "Astrology"
  • "Plastic"
  • "The Great Family of Man" (the touring photography exhibition known in English-speaking countries as The Family of Man)
  • "The Lady of the Camellias"

This content is from Wikipedia. GradeSaver is providing this content as a courtesy until we can offer a professionally written study guide by one of our staff editors. We do not consider this content professional or citable. Please use your discretion when relying on it.