3. Contemporary structuralism

Contemporary structuralists tend to see mythology where it is most undetectable: in the contemporary Western society. The structures of opposition and mediation reveal the hidden myths at work in such cultural phenomena as WWF wrestling contests and popular Hollywood films. This section starts with the analysis of the phenomenon of wrestling by R. Barthes and ends by presenting the North American popular film culture, with its enhanced oppositions and "happy end" mediation, as essentially mythical, and not aesthetic, in nature.

Bibliography and texts:

Barthes, R. Mythologies. Translated by A. Lavers: Hill and Wang, 1972.

Videos: WWF wrestling videos; selection of contemporary Hollywood films