Book Critique: Mythologies by Roland Barthes

I decided on this read as the author was suggested during my most recent 'contextual' lecture, over the topic psychoanalytic modes of criticism. Which, I suppose, is what this book does; rather than being structured as a linear story, the book is a collection of essays that explore mass culture and the semiotics hidden within common ideologies. My intention was to read something that would make me re-think the world around me, allowing me to develop on the factors I wish to bring up in my upcoming contextual essay.

The World of Wrestling
This essay analyses the sport of wrestling, focusing on the event, which involves an audience. Barthes discusses how "wrestlers exploit the resources of a given physical style". I interpreted this as the brutality of the sport, requiring an opponent to simply use as much force as possible, pushing your body to its limit. This is very different to judo, which strongly focuses on tactics and doesn't necessarily mean an opponent has lost when they're on the ground, as a clever move can quickly turn the tables. The history surrounding wrestling is highlighted as a key factor of the sport and its semiotics. Themes of justice, consequence, punishment and judgment are unknowingly woven into the sport and its events due to its Roman roots. The sole purpose being to beat your opponent physically.
Wrestlers use their bodies to communicate the sport, as though a move is a letter of its alphabet.

The Face of Garbo
In this essay, Barthes talks about expressions, features and their movements. These are perceived as semiotics by how we, as humans, understand them. Garbo uses 'the face' in cinema to "plunge audiences into ecstasy", calling this reaction an "event". Garbo controls the face in these instances, creating reactions he expects. The essay explores the relationship between cinema and face with how it links to semiotics. The cinematic experience is made by the deliberate independence an audience has to interpret the emotions of an on-screen character by their expressions. A director isn't there to explain a characters' reaction to audiences.

Wine and Milk
Barthes discusses wine and its relationship with France, being a "totem-drink" and a symbolism of their culture. However, wine is a popular drink across the globe and is perceived differently to different cultures. In the UK, it is often drunk with the intention of getting drunk. In France, it is more about the experience of drinking, with the tipsiness being an unintentional side-effect to the main event. This essay was especially interesting because it discusses how wine (as a semiotic) has no defined translation or meaning. Instead, it is up to the users interpretation "depends on the users of the myth". A flexible, undefined semiotic. The author also points out the importance of a readers knowledge on contexts, history and facts on the topics being discussed; being knowledgeable opens up a new layer behind the semiotics of wine, turning it from a "heart for the work" into an imposing expropriation of creating wasteful crops on private distillers that could desperately do with that space to make bread to eat. Instantly villainizing the business simply by understanding the industry.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially appreciating the independence I have as a reader. Despite being fed a mass of information, the author still leaves readers to decipher what they believe. Barthes gives us his opinions and explanations on semiotics, it is then up to us to either accept and carry this knowledge, or reject and fix the points discussed. After reading the book, I have the freedom to change the semiotics of common ideologies if I feel the need to do so.