Mythologies is a masterpiece of analysis and interpretation.
At its heart, Barthes's collection of essays about the mythologies of modern life treats everyday objects and ideasfrom professional wrestling, to the Tour de France, to Greta Garbo's faceas though they are silently putting forward arguments.
Those arguments are for modernity itself, the way the world is, from its class structures, to its ideologies, to its customs.
In Barthes's view, the mythologies of the modern world all tend towards one aim: making us think that the way things are, the status quo, is how they should naturally be.
For Barthes, this should not be taken for granted; instead, he suggests, it is a kind of mystification, preventing us from seeing things differently or believing they might be otherwise.
His analyses do what all good analytical thinking does: he unpicks the features of the arguments silently presented by his subjects, reveals their (and our) implicit assumptions, and shows how they point us towards certain ideas and conclusions.
Indeed, understanding Barthes' methods of analysis means you might never see the world in the same way again.
| Aim | Making us think that the way things are the status quo is how they should naturally be |
|---|---|
| His analyses do what all good analytical thinking does | He unpicks the features of the arguments silently presented by his subjects reveals their (and our) implicit assumptions and shows how they point us towards certain ideas and conclusions |
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