Mythologies

In this magnificent collection of essays, Barthes explores the myths of mass culture taking subjects as diverse as wrestling, films, plastic and cars, deciphering the symbols and signs within familiar aspects of modern life and, in so doing, unmasking the hidden ideologies and meanings which implicitly affect our thought and behaviour.

Roland Barthes was born in 1915 and studied French literature and the classics at the University of Paris. After teaching French at universities in Romania and Egypt, he joined the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, where he devoted himself to research in sociology and lexicology. He was a professor at the College de France until his death in 1980.