Abstract
Roland Barthes’ >Mythologies<(1957) dissected the hidden meanings embedded in everyday phenomena - from wrestling and advertisements to wine and laundry detergent - revealing how ideology resides in the ordinary. Nearly seven decades later, >Updating Roland Barthes’ Mythologies< revisits this analytical lens through the perspectives of design, architecture, and art.
Edited by Hans Leo Höger as the third volume in the Design Meanings series (curated by Renato Troncon and Tom Bieling), the book gathers over thirty short, incisive essays by international authors. Each contribution unpacks a contemporary myth of everyday life: from objects such as the water bottle, the Swiss Army knife, or the Monobloc chair, to digital phenomena like Instagram, streaming, or ChatGPT. Other essays probe conceptual and political themes - algorithms, democracy, sustainability, or the metaverse - revealing how the designed world continues to generate new systems of meaning and belief.
The book includes contributions by Grit Weber, Enrico Baleri, Anna Berkenbusch, Annette Bertsch, Tom Bieling, Gianluca Camillini, Giorgio Camuffo, Andrea Facchetti, Thomas A. Geisler, Claudia Gelati, Gesine Gold, Markus Hanzer, Oliver Kartak, Andreas Koop, Stefano Maffei, Matteo Moretti, Axel Müller-Schöll, Daniela Piscitelli, Kuno Prey, Peter Putz, Arno Ritter, Ursula Schnitzer, Erik Spiekermann, René Spitz, Karl Stocker, Sonja Stummerer, Martin Hablesreiter, Gerrit Terstiege, Uli Weidner,
>Updating Roland Barthes’ Mythologies< provides a multifaceted analysis into the symbolic and conceptual realm - revealing how myths continue to structure our understanding of the ordinary, whether in the workshop or on the screen. The book invites to recondiser of what it means to create, interpret, and live among myths today - reminding us that even in the most practical acts of making, cultural meaning is never absent.