This detailed
literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and aFree
Quiz on Mythologies by
Roland Barthes.
This short but
intellectually dense book examines contemporary mythology from two distinct
perspectives. Specific manifestations of the relationship between myth and popular culture are explored in the series of short essays making up Section 1. Section 2 consists of a lengthy essay examining and defining, from the author's personal perspective, the general ways in which myths function and are defined
.
Mythologies is
written in two sections. The first consists of a series of essays on myths and
the use of the mythic language associated with a diverse range of images in
popular culture. In an introduction, the author writes that these essays were
written, one a month, over a period of approximately two years. He also writes
that the essays grew out of "a feeling of impatience at the sight of the
'naturalness' with which newspapers, art and common-sense constantly dress up a
reality ... undoubtedly determined by history." This statement contains a
key thematic element of both Section 1 and Section 2—the belief that the
creation and understanding of myth is a function of human experience in particular
times, places, and circumstances
.
The essays in
Section 1 examine a wide range of examples of such experiences, albeit a range
limited to experiences in France (the country in which the author resided) in
the 1950's (the time at which the book was written). Tourism, cooking,
striptease, advertising, literature, film, many more - all, in the author's
perspective, manifest mythic language, and all manifest the particular purpose
of myth as defined by the author in the second half of the book - to manipulate
public perception and experience.
Section 2 is
subtitled Myth Today, and consists of a complex, detailed,
theoretical examination of the construction and function of myth. The author
begins his essay with the statement that myth is a form of language/speech, and
goes on to de-construct mythic language into its various components. The
arguments here are densely intellectual, defining the development of myth as a
rational exercise in delineating perception. Without actually using the word,
he presents the theory that myth is a kind of culturally sanctioned propaganda,
using images with universal resonances and commonly understood meanings to tell
individuals what and how to feel about being human
.
Central to the
theories developed in both Sections 1 and 2 is the idea that the need for this
imposed, propaganda-like experience of culture, as well as society's perception
of it, are defined by the bourgeoisie, or working/consumer class. The examples
in Section 1 of how mythic language is used are all taken from bourgeoisie
popular culture, while the theories developed in Section 2 are founded upon the
premise that the working class has no interest in, and is indeed threatened by,
any knowledge of experience beyond their own concerns. In essence, the author
seems to be proposing that myth, in contemporary culture as in the past, is
simultaneously a simplified explanation for human experience and a facade
protecting everyday humanity from the dark, despairing, existential depths of
that experience.
There is, the
author acknowledges in the final section of Myth Today, a paradox
in this idea of "myth as mask." He writes that myth, in these terms,
is simultaneously necessary and dangerous—necessary because it keeps humanity
from full awareness of its darker side by offering palatable explanations,
dangerous because it keeps humanity from full consciousness of the dangers
associated with that darker side. He writes in conclusion that a reconciliation
between reality and humanity's need to protect itself from reality must be
sought, implying that myth has the potential, if not the actual, capacity to
act as the medium for that reconciliation
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