Introduction to Semiotics of Cultures, 2010
Ronald Barthes – Myths Today
Vesa Matteo Piludu
University of Helsinki
Semiotics
 The term, which was spelled semeiotics (Greek: σημειωτικός,
semeiotikos, an interpreter of signs) was first used in English by
Henry Stubbes (1670, p. 75) in a very precise sense to denote the
branch of medical science relating to the interpretation of signs
 Plato and Aristotle both explored the relationship between signs and
the world, and Augustine considered the nature of the sign within a
conventional system. More recently, Umberto Eco, in his Semiotics
and philosophy of language, has argued that semiotic theories are
implicit in the work of most, perhaps all, major thinkers.
 Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of sign
processes (semiosis), or signification and communication, signs and
symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems.
 It includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood.
The tree ”souls” of Semiotics
 Semantics: Relation between signs and the things they refer to, their
denotata.
 Syntactics: Relation of signs to each other in formal structures
(systems of symbols, web of signification)
 Pragmatics: Relation of signs to their impacts on those who use or
consume them (social, cultural, political, psychological impact)
Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980)
 Mythologies (1957)
 The most journalistic of all
the Barthes’ books, probably
the most popular
 No organic development
 Fragmentary: the chapter
were articles written every
month for different magazine
 Themes: myths of French
popular culture and daily life
 Influence of existentialism,
Saussure, marxism
Myth in antiquity
 Narratives about gods, heroes, fantastic beings who tell us why the
world is organized at it its
 The Ancient myths weren’t obvious but complicate: many
philosophers, including Plato, discussed on their inner meaning
 Ancient myths were deep, suitable for speculation
Modern myths according to Barthes
 Simple narratives, often presented by media that express the
obviousness and inevitable condition of the social order, status quo,
where we live
 Modern myths are dangerous, and for Barthes it’s relevant to unveil
the ideological messages hidden in their discourse
Myths in 1954 - 1956
 The essays were written every month for two years, from 1954 to
1956
 Topics suggested by current events and media (articles, films,
shows, exhibitions)
 Barthes tried to reflects on myths of French daily life
 He was upset for the naturalness and simplicity with newspapers and
common sense dress up a reality determined by history
 Confusion between Nature and History
 Ideological abuse of this confusion
 A modern myths is the language of the falsely obvious: the
mythologist should unmask the mystification that transform myths of
middle class in universal and natural facts
Myths Today
 The last chapter is theoretical:
Myths Today
 It is still a quite confuse, as
Barthes itself stated in the
introduction of 1970 edition: the
semiotic analysis was quite
unsophisticated
 Even so, Barthes considered
actual the necessity of unveiling
myths
Myth today
 A kind of speech, language that is connected to a particular historical
time (French colonialism, mass media culture)
 Myths could be ancient, but generally aren’t eternal: a myth could
disappear rapidly in the media culture
 Semiotics for Barthes isn’t metaphysic, it is always connected to
some historical background
 Everything (film, photo, article) could be transformed in a myth
 Pictures are more imperative than writing: meaning at stroke, but
they become a kind of writing when they are connected to certain
meanings
Barthes: tripartite meaning process
 Object or signifier could
signify several meanings
 In a certain contest is
connected to a certain
concept or significans
 The signifier with a clear
meaning become a sign in
a certain historical and
cultural background
Black cat and witch
Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923):
Chat au Clair de Lune
Black Cat
Art Print by Shunso Hishida
Tournee du Chat Noir by Theophile Steinlen
(1898)
Chat Noir by Theophile Steinlen
 Many of the posters were
produced, to advertise the local
“cabaret” owned by Aristide
Bruant, created in 1881 as a
venue for performers and a
nightclub for artists
 elegant and luxurious body
 This is a perfect balance of
mass advertisement (in the
right language) and art
Halloween poster
Black cat in advetizing
Catwoman (Batman)
Black Cat (Spiderman)
Myths for Barthes
 Second order semiological system, a metalanguage
 A sign of the first semiological system (linguistic) became a raw
signifier in the mythological system
 In other words: the myths banalyse symbols, that became “raw
material”
 it is “natural” that the black cat means bad luck, we don’t need to
think about it
 According to media culture, is unnecessary know about the historical
formation of the black cat as a symbol (Christianity)
Myth analyzed by Barthes:
Black African and the colonial troupes
Meaning of the African soldier’s image
 France is a great empire and all his sons faithfully serve under the
same flag
 Signifier: black soldier
 Signified: “frenchness”, militarism
 In the linguistic system the images contain a long story, connected to
history, to a certain knowledge of reality
 In the mythological system all is impoverished: the African soldier is
considered a spontaneous, indisputable image
 The myths doesn’t suppress meaning, it only impoverish it: the
message loose some knowledge and appeal to a certain group of
reader (the French middle class who supported French colonialism)
Same concept, different signifiers
 In myths the same
concept (French
imperiality) could be
repeated by several
different forms or
signifier
Distortions
 Myth disport reality, doesn’t
censure: the African soldier is
deprived by his own history
and memory … not of his
existence
 The sign is only half-amputated
 Myth it is a stolen and replaced
speech: it took a sign from
somewhere in time and replace
it in another context
 The concept deforms, don’t
abolish
 The signifier become arbitrary,
natural, frozen, eternalized: the
French empire at the time was
considered only as a natural,
obvious fact
 The myth of media culture look
general, neutral
 The history that caused the
phenomenon is censured
Poor and incoplete images
 Myths prefer to work with poor,
incomplete image, ready for
ideological significations
 There are inexhaustible stores
of simple images ready to be
used for militaristic purposes
Marcus Aurelius in Rome
Women soldiers in Iraq: mythological photo
Saving Jessica Lynch: the movie
 Fiction film
 With Saving Private Ryan
(1998) still in the public
psyche, it was a tailor-made
adventure to reinforce
support for the campaign in
Iraq
What the mythological photos don’t say
 Many female soldiers say they are sexually assaulted by their male
comrades and can't trust the military to protect them.
 "The knife wasn't for the Iraqis," says one woman. "It was for the
guys on my own side."
 From the article:
 The private war of women soldiers
 By Helen Benedict
Photos of torture and humiliations
at Abu Ghraib Prison
Photos of torture and humiliations
at Abu Ghraib Prison
Switzerland: posters vs. minarets
 The recent posters against
minarets shows also the
Western fear of the popularity
of burka and of female terrorism
 The connection between
minarets, burka and terrorism is
clearly ideological, but it is
presented as a “natural”
combination of things
Barthes: obviousness of myths
 Myth transform a meaning in an obvious form: it’s language robbery,
it become something unquestionable, justified in excess, it became a
natural fact
 Modern myths are often simple because articulate languages offer
resistance to simplification
Barthes: the role of the scholar
 The media often focus only on signifiers, considering them the
”obvious” representation of a concept
 Myth is not a lie, it’s an inflection, a distortion: the naturalization and
trivialization of objects, concepts and history
 The scholar should distinguish signifier and significans, the
representation and the concept
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He focus on the mechanism of production of myths
He is able to connect the myth and general history,
To show hot it corresponds to the interest of a sector of a society
To evidence how it is masked into innocent fashion