Credit: French Philosopher Roland Barthes, 24th June 1975 (Photo by Sophie Bassouls/Sygma via Getty Images)
How to read capitalist mythology?
In the modern-day world, we are surrounded by images, symbols, brands, and advertisements of all sorts. We face them every day and everywhere. On the street, at home, in the shop, while surfing the web, literally, there is no place without ads and the meta-information hidden behind them. So how can we decipher what our new clothes, gadgets, books, or even thoughts represent? Roland Barthes, one of the most distinguished philosophers of the 20th century, concerned himself with such questions in his notable work Mythologies (1957). He develops an understanding of the mechanism that works behind the creation of symbols and myths in contemporary capitalist society.
Below you can watch a short video with an introduction to Roland Barthes' theory