Mythologies: Essais (French Edition) [Import] [Paperback]

Roland Barthes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1957

233pages. poche. Broché. L'Antiquité avait son Oedipe, le Grand Sičcle son roi Soleil, et voilŕ que Barthes donne ŕ la France de l'aprčs-guerre ses nouveaux emblčmes : la DS Citroën, le Tour de France, le steak frites. Tous objets d'un culte bourgeois, ils deviennent de véritables mythes pour une société qui finit par se penser ŕ travers eux. Mais si Barthes se penche avec la rigueur de l'ethnologue sur ces nouveaux mythes, c'est pour mieux en dénoncer les mécanismes : l'idéologie dominante ne s'inventerait ainsi des valeurs que pour légitimer des "normes bourgeoises" qui en manquent singuličrement. Écrites quotidiennement de 1954 ŕ 1956, ces mythologies déploient une écriture fine, cultivée et juste, ŕ lire comme autant de petites chroniques savoureuses. Toutefois, on les retiendra avant tout pour l'actualité de leurs propos : sur le męme modčle, on trouverait sans peine de nouvelles mythologies, qui ne seraient sans doute pas trčs éloignées de celles que Barthes, en son temps, mettait en évidence. -Karla Manuele

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Editions du Seuil (1957)
• Language: French
• ISBN-10: 2020005859
• ISBN-13: 978-2020005852
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Foreign Language Fiction > French

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Myth and Narratives Alive, May 23, 2001

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mythologies (Paperback)

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.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, and worth re-reading., November 29, 2003

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mythologies (Paperback)

When I finished this latest re-read of Mythologies I was initially struck by how funny it was. This was something of a big realization for me, stemming from a memory of burning brain cells with a furrowed brow, trying to understand what he was saying and being almost afraid to enjoy it. So there's one of the consolations for growing older for you-- I'm getting confident enough to really enjoy Barthes.

I'm not saying that I fully understand him yet. I'm not sure that I ever will. I think that "Myth Today"(the book's final and most central essay) still remains fairly firmly out of reach. But it's true that each time I re-read Barthes, I get something more out of it-- I manage to scale heights that I didn't think I would ever get to the last time around.

Isn't it the mark of a brilliant book that it grows with you?

Particularly recommended this time are the essays "Soap Powders and Detergents" and "Operation Margarine".

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for old-school Marxists and modern rhetoricians, February 26, 2006

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M. Guinn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mythologies (Paperback)

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.

Though complex, Barthes essays are accessible, charming, and funny. I have taught Mythologies to first-year college students, because it does not require its reader to have read volumes of theory to engage in Barthes' clever reflections.

My favorite essay might be "Toys," which demystifies modern (1954-56) French toys as designed to produce consumers ("users") rather than creators. "Toys" exemplifies how, 50 years later, Barthes' myths are still alive and worth reading.