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roland Barthes
This document provides an overview of Roland Barthes' work on mythologies and the production of myth. It discusses Barthes' understanding of how myths work on a semiotic level through signifiers and signifieds. It also outlines seven key rhetorical figures that Barthes sees as typical of bourgeois ideology in mythical rhetoric, such as neither/norism, the quantification of quality, and the privation of history. The document provides examples to illustrate several of these figures.
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roland Barthes
- 1. Myth Today &Mythologies Roland Barthes
- 2. 1915-1918 Writing De gre e Ze ro 1953 Mytho lo g ie s 1 9 57 Cam e ra Lucida 1980 Roland Barthes
- 3. The production of myth signifi er signifi ed signsignifi edsignifier sign salute patriot ism denotative sign mythic conceptmythic form connotative sign - myth of French empire
- 4. QuickTime™ and aCinepakdecompressorare needed to see blackness crime “denotation” mythic concept mythic form myth: liberals are soft on crimemyth: liberals are soft on crime mythic form mythic concept “denotation” blackness crime
- 5. Barthes understands bourgeoismyths to conform generally to seven key figures These figures can be used as heuristics to interrogate cultural artifacts Mythical rhetoric
- 6. Neither/Norism: “Liberals or Conservatives:what’s the difference?”; the lose-lose proposition--leads to political cynicism The quantification of quality: the market determines all value Myth on the “right”: rhetorical figures typical of bourgeois ideology
- 7. The statement offact: common sense; truisms; things are no more complex than they seem “Caesar fringe” on Marlon Brando “...it is both reprehensible and deceitful to confuse the sign with what is signified.” see “The Romans in Film”
- 8. Tautology: “because Isaid so”; “boys will be boys”; “I know it when I see it”; “just do it” “The accidental failure of language is magically identified with what one decides is a natural resistance of the object” (166).
- 9. Identification: otherness mustbe reduced to sameness The Family of Man Exhibit Museum of Modern Art 1955 There is only one man in the world and his name is All Men. There is only one woman in the world and her name is All Women. There is only one child in the world and the child's name is All Children. --Carl Sandburg at the entryway to the exhibit
- 10. The inoculation: “Truefreedom includes the freedom to fail.” Charity warns of homelessness risk “...admitting the accidental evil of a class- bound institution the better to conceal its principle evil” (164)
- 11. The privation ofhistory: we know of no time when things were not as they are now “All one has to do is possess these beautiful new objects from which all soiling trace of origin or choice has been removed” (165).
- 12. Markers, Metasigns, andStyles Markedness is opposed to unmarkedness. It means that a given form is distinguishable from another on the basis of a special semiotic feature. A marked form, in other words, is simply one that stands out from the rest. Unmarked forms tend to be transparent--that is, you don’t notice them; they seem natural. Unmarked forms are the “default” position. Markedness is opposed to unmarkedness. It means that a given form is distinguishable from another on the basis of a special semiotic feature. A marked form, in other words, is simply one that stands out from the rest. Unmarked forms tend to be transparent--that is, you don’t notice them; they seem natural. Unmarked forms are the “default” position.
- 13. Broad sets ofmarkers that identify the same social group are called “metasigns.” They are frequently empty of referential content; they are used to create solidarity among those so marked and distance from those who aren’t. (“Style,” “accent,” and “grammar” all refer to the same phenomenon.)