ENGLI

SHLITERATURE
MYTHOLOGIES-

Mythsmulti
plyandpenetr
atei
ntoever
ymani
fest
edr
eal
i
tyofexi
stence.
Examineswit
hr ef
erencet
oBarthe.

Mythisal
ongstolen&rest
ored.Myt
hisnotsomethi
ngbel
ongst
opast
,
butt
ocontemporaryandi
tchangeswit
hpassageofti
me.

Amy t
hcanneverbev eri
fi
edandcannotbeputtoatestthatpr
ovesi
t’
s
val
i
dati
on,aut
hentici
ty,
creat
ionmani
fest
ati
on,penet
rat
ionanditcan
embeddedincol
lecti
veunconsci
ous.

Barthe,i
nhisbook“ Mythologi es”speakseloquent l
yabouthowt hethi
ngs
andact i
onsinourdiversecour seareelevatedt oastateofmy th.Hesays
thatthecreati
on,manif
est ationandpenet rationofamy t
hisalway s
associat
edt otheel
iteclassandsay sthear istocr
ats&bour geoistendto
createadiscourseorawel l struct
uredlanguageofamy t
hwhi chis
undeniableanddeeplyimpl ant edi
nsubconsci ous,suchthattheygets
i
nvol
vedi
nitanddenyr
eal
i
ty.My
thshav
ebeenr
emai
ningani
nvi
sibl
e
presenceandsi l
ent
lyplayi
ngani nf
luenti
alparti
nev ery
onesliv
es.
Itmeansthatt hemythispossessinganent ir
ekingdom ofit
sown
i
nt heform ofalanguage.Withthepassageoft i
meandt he
transi
ti
onsthattakeplacealongwit hi
t,t
hereisapossibil
it
yof
changesint hemeanings,inter
pretati
ons,useandev enimages
too.

Thecov erpageoft heor i

ginalbook" t
hemy thologies"
contains
manyr el
igi
oussymbol swhichi tsel
fisconvey i
ngt hev ari
ati
ons
thatar
isebythehelpoft hei
llustr
ati
onspresentoni t.Iti
samy th
thatmy thsarecreated somewher e dur
ing thepastand t hey
happen tothri
veand r each til
lhere.ButBar thesi st r
ying to
provi
deaper spect
ivewhi chseemst obequi tedi f
ferentfrom
whatmanyusedt obelieve.Newmy thsarecomi ngi nt
oexi st
ence
whichresult
si ntheleav i
ngbehi ndoft heoldermy ths.I naway,
newmy t
hsar ebeginningt or eplacet heoldermy t
hs.Inaway ,i
t
canbeconsi deredthatwear esur r
oundedbymy ths.Although,i
t
i
sdi f
fi
culttoacknowledget hispar t
icularobservati
onal ltheti
me,
ther
eisapossi bil
it
yjusttobecomeawar eofit.Itisbecausey ou
areverydeeplyimmer sedi nt oitthatmakesanest i
mat ionofthe
surf
acear atherimpossiblet ask.

Barthes'swor krevol
vesaroundt hethreewordswhi charecal
led
the si gn, signi
fi
er and t he signif
ied. While deali
ng with
postmoder nism,youar ri
vet oaconcl usionthatthereareonly
signst hatareexisti
ngi nseclusi
on,wi t
houtanysignif
ierorthe
signif
ied.Thei mmer si
vewor l
dofsi gnsiswhatwear eliv
ingin
thepresenttimes.

Thepr esentdaymy t
hsar eev i
dentl
ythecombi nationofl anguage
andi mages.Thel anguagei simplement edinawayt hatl eadst o
yourengagementwi t
ht he images.The ef f
ici
entuse oft he
i
magest oexer tasi gnifi
cantimpactupont hepeopl ewhoar e
l
ivingi nt hepr esentdayr eali
tyandf urtherinf
luencet hem t o
acceptt hem leadst ot hef or
mat i
onofamy th.I ti
scr uci
alt o
emphasi sethatBar thesi snotsay i
ngt hatalllanguage- usei s
my th.Italsohasat endencyt oempt ylanguage.Itr emov essigns
from t heircontext,hidi
ngt hepr ocessofat tachingsi gnifi
ert o
signif
ied.Itthusst r
ipssignsoft heirri
chnessandspeci ficit
y.The
functionofmy thist oempt yreali
tyoft heappear anceofhi story
andofsoci alconstructi
on.Thei nit
ialsigni sri
chi nhistory.My th
functionsbydepr i
vingi tofhistoryandt urni
ngiti nt
oanempt y
formt ocar r
yadi ff
erentmeani ng.
My t
hscanev enbef ri
ght ening,unpleasantandunaccept abl eto
theconsciousnessoft hehuman.Nomat terhowr udeort er
ribl
e
my t
hsseem t obe,theycannev erbewi pedawayf r
om t hehuman
exi
stence.Li keitornot ,y ouar edest inedt ocoexi stwitht hese
my t
hs.Ev eni fyout ryt oi gnoret hem,t heywi l
lbemaki ngan
undeniabl
ei nterf
erencei ny ourlivessucht hatitbecomeshar dly
possibl
et ol i
vewi t
houtt hem.Theyar econt i
nuousl ymultiplyi
ng
andpenet rati
ngintoev erymani festedreal i
tyofexi stence.Noone
i
sabl etodet er
minet heor i
ginofacl assi calmy th.I tj
ustcame
i
nto ex i
stence wi t
houtany one's knowl edge.They came i nto
exi
stenceatsomepoi ntoft ime.Butonecanst at
et heoriginofa
moder nmy t
h.Thisispr i
mar il
yonedi fferencebet weenacl assical
my t
handamoder nmy ththatBar t
hesi spoi nt i
ngout .

Thegener al
lyacceptedv iew ofcr iti
cism islookingatt het ext
fr
om diverselocati
ons.Thet askofacr i
ti
quei st oexposet he
hi
ddendi ver
semeani ngsoft het ext.I
t,inawayi sexpressingt he
multi
pli
cit
yofpossibili
ti
est hathi deinat ext.But,thetradit
ional
noti
onsofcr i
ti
cism i
sbei ngr eversedbyBar thes.Hesay sthata
cri
ti
queissomeonewhoempl oy stheunexpr essi
onoft het ext
.
Thetexthasgotnot hingtoexpr ess.Thev erylackofexpr ession
becomesanexpr essioninitself
.

Paradigm andsyntagm ar et
hetwoideasofFer di
nanddeSassure
whichar eusedextensivelybyBart
hesin'My thol
ogies.
'Forbasi
c
understandi
ng,apar adigm isameaningt hatisassociat
edwi t
h
thetextwhereasthesy ntagm ar
ri
vesatalaterpointoft
ime.

Comingtot
heideol
ogyasamy t
h,i
tcomesi
ntopl
ayaft
erget
ti
ng
i
mplantedi
ntheconsciousnessofthehuman.Nazi
sm among
fasci
sm isanexampl eofavici
ousmy th,
andnotonlythat,evena
non v i
olent i
deology implemented by Gandhican al so be
consi
der edamy t
h.Regardlessofhow posit
iveorhow negat i
ve
anideologyis,i
twillbequal
ifi
edasamy t
hassoonasi tbegi
nsto
i
nterf
ereandi nhabitspacei npeople'
sconsciousness.Thisis
howani deologycomest orepresentamodernmy th.

Whicheversi
tuati
ony ougety oursel
finto,thereisonet hingthat
shoul
dnev erbei gnoredwhichi sy ouar ealwayssur roundedby
numerousmy ths.Inawayi tcanbesai dt hattheappar entrealit
y
i
sbackedbyamy t
h.Undeniably,themy thsar eexi
sting,exerting
andexposingther eal
ityini
tsownway .Get t
ingri
dofmy thsisa
taskthatcannev erbeaccompl ished.Oneneedst ounder st
and
that the myths ar ei n an ev er i
ncreasing transition and
modifi
cati
onsthatwi l
ltakeplacet hr
ought hepassageoft ime.

Itisbecauseofourcompl et
ei mmer si
ont hatmakesunawar eof
thepr esenceofthesemy ths.Quitenatural
l
y ,y
ouwillbeforget
ti
ng
the things in which you arei mmer sed in.This escapes t
he
consci ousnessofthehumant hatmakeshi m unawareaboutit.
An
obser vati
onthatisevidentthatamy thisnotat hi
ngoft hepast.
They ar ein a continuous coexistence wi t
h us,under goi
ng
replenishmentswhenev erpossibl
e.

Inaway ,i
tcanbeconsider
edt hatwear esurr
oundedbymy t
hs.
Although,i
tisdi
ff
icul
ttoacknowledget hi
spart
icul
arobser
vat
ion
alltheti
me,ther
eisapossibil
it
yj usttobecomeawar eofi
t.I
tis
becausey ouarev er
ydeeplyi mmer sedintoitthatmakesan
estimati
onofthesurf
acearatherimpossibl
etask.
Paradigm andsy ntagm ar et hetwoi deasofFer dinanddeSassur e
whichar eusedext ensi velybyBar thesi n'My thologies.'Forbasic
underst anding,apar adigm i sameani ngt hatisassoci atedwi t
h
sil
entl
ypl ayi
ngani nfluentialpar tinev eryone'sl i
ves.Thr oughout
My t
hol ogies'Rol andBar thesi smaki ngani ngeni ousempl oyment
oft he t erm my th.He say s" My thi sal anguage,st olen and
rest
ored. "Itmeanst hatt hemy t
hi spossessi nganent i
rekingdom
ofitsowni nt hef orm ofal anguage.Wi t
ht hepassageOft ime
and the t r
ansi t
ions t hatt ake pl ace al ong wi thi t,ther eisa
possibilit
yOfchangesi nt hemeani ngs,i nterpretati
ons,useand
eveni magest oo.Buti tist obenot edthatt hel anguagecannot
undergoast arkchangei ni tself.Theway sOfi nterpret
ingamy t
h
areinacont inuouschangewhi chr evealst hef actt hatt heyare
rel
ativelyqui tedi f
fer entf rom whatt heyusedt obe.Si mpl yput,
thechangei nt hescenar ioi ndicatest hechangei nt hemeani ng.

Bart
hesof t
encl ai
medt obef ascinatedbyt hemeani ngsoft he
thi
ngst hatsurr
oundusi nourev erydayl i
ves.I fther eisacer t
ain
amountof t hemat i
c cont i
nuit
y bet ween t he t wo ` parts’of
My t
hologiestheni tisher e,int heirsharedi nter rogati
onoft he
meaningsoft heculturalartefactsandpr acticest hatsur roundus.
Bart
hesof tenclaimedt hathewant edt ochallenget he`innocence’
and `natural
ness’ofcul turaltext s and pract ices whi ch wer e
capableofpr oducingal lsortsofsuppl ement ar ymeani ngs,or
connotati
onst ouseBar thes’spr eferr
edt erm.Al t
houghobj ects,
gestur
esandpr acti
ceshav eacer tainuti
li
tarianf unct i
on, theyar e
notresist
anttot heimposi t
ionofmeani ng.Ther ei snosucht hing,
totakebutoneexampl e,asacarwhi chisapur el
yf unct i
onal
objectdev oidofconnot at i
onsandr esistanttot hei mposi t
ionof
meani ng.A BMW andaCi t
ron2CVshar et hesamef unctional
uti
li
t y,theydo essent i
allyt hesamej obbutconnot edi ff
erent
thi
ngsaboutt heirowner s:thrusting,upwar dly-mobileexecut i
ve
versusecol ogicall
ysound,r i
ght-
ont rendy .Wecanspeakofcar s
then, assignsexpr essiveofanumberofconnot ati
ons.I
tist hese
sortsofsecondar ymeani ngsorconnot ati
onst hatBar thesi s
i
nter estedinuncov eri
ngi nMy t
hologies.Bar theswant st ost op
taking t hi
ngs f or gr ant ed, want s t o br acket or suspend
consi derat
ionoft heirf unct i
on,andconcent r at
er atheronwhat
theymeanandhowt heyf unctionassi gns.Inmanyr espect swhat
Barthesi sdoingi sinterrogat i
ngt heobv i
ous,t akingacloserl ook
atthatwhi chget stakenf orgr anted,maki ngexpl ici
twhatr emai ns
i
mpl i
cit.

My t
hologi esi s,superf
ici
all
yatl east,ar atherpuzzl i
ngt i
tlef ora
bookconcer nedwiththemeani ngsoft hesi gnst hatsur r
oundus
i
n ourev eryday li
ves.A my th,af t
eral l,i s a st ory about
superhumanbei ngsofanear l
ierage,ofanci entEgy pt,Greeceor
Rome.Butt hewor d`my t
h’canal someanaf icti
tious, unprov enor
i
ll
usor yt hi
ng.Thi sisclosertot hesenset hatBar t hesexpl oresi n
My t
hologi es.Bar t
hes is concer ned t o anal yze t he ` my t hs’
ci
rculatingi ncontempor arysociety,thefalser epresent ationsand
err
oneousbel ief
scur r
enti nt heFr anceoft hepost warper iod.
My t
hologi esi sawor kaboutt hemy thsthatci r
cul ateinev eryday
l
ifewhi chconst r
uctawor l
df orusandourpl acei ni t:Wei nhabi ta
world,then, ofsignswhi chsuppor texisti
ngpowerst r
ucturesand
which pur por tto be natural.The r ole oft he my thol
ogi st,as
Barthes sees i t,ist o expose t hese si gns as t he ar ti
ficial
const
ruct
sthatt
heyare,t
or evealt
heirworki
ngsandshow t
hat
whatappear
stobenat
urali
s,infact
,deter
minedbyhi
stor
y.

PYLASOWJANYA

B.
A.B.
Ed7t
hsemest
er

DA170029