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Five Things You Didn't Know About Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes was a quintessentially French intellectual who became internationally famous with his sprightly, witty and uncompromising essays on photography and popular culture. Born in 1915 he was at the centre of French intellectual life for three decades.
1. A Taste for Steak
Roland Barthes’ essays, collected under the title “Mythologies” dissected the ideological meanings behind the ephemera of the popular culture of his day. His topics included plastic, strip tease, wrestling, steak and chips and “the new Citroen.”
2. Uncovering the ‘ideological abuse’ concealed in packets of soap flakes
Barthes was analysing a world of booming consumerism in which French housewives could choose from a greater range of detergents than ever before. He hoped that his essays would uncover the ‘ideological abuse’ concealed in packets of soap flakes. For Barthes the function of the mythologist is to counter myths by exposing them as lies.
2. Smoke and Mirrors?
Barthes was an enthusiastic smoker of Havana cigars. He enjoyed the fact he was brandishing ‘a bourgeois emblem’ and would enthusiastically gesture with it to make his point.
4. The Death of the Author
The man who had done more to demythologise the power of advertising than anyone alive died on 26th March 1980, one month after being hit by a speeding laundry truck. On its side was, of course, an advertisement for the laundry.
5. Lunching On The Left Bank
The lunch that Barthes attended before his fateful encounter with the laundry truck was hosted by the future French President Francois Mitterrand.
21st Century Mythologies dissects the popular culture of our era in the spirit of Roland Barthes, starting with the screw-top wine bottle.
