Technocratic Icons

Technocratic Icons:

The status of technocratic icons within contemporary society (the Citroën DS, the Eiffel Tower etc.) is another theme in Barthes’s Mythologies. In the postwar world things become charged with a new value and significance. As consumer durables become more affordable and more and more people are able to acquire such possessions as cars and washing machines. The power and presence of advertizing also becomes more noticible. Important essays include `Saponides et les détergents’ (Barthes: 1970 pp.38-40), `La nouvelle Citroën’ (Barthes: 1970 pp.150-2) and `Publicité et profondeur’ (Barthes: 1970 p.82). The principal aim of these essays is to reveal the petite-bourgeoisie as self- congratulatory, enamoured of its material benefits and its so-called technological advances.

In postwar France the car became the very symbol of modernity. This is reflected in a number of films of the period such as Lola (1960), La Belle Américaine (1961) and, more catastrophically, Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend (1967). The automobile industry was central to France’s increasing industrialization with Renault’s vast modern factory at Billancourt as its most visible reminder. This factory, incidentally, provided the setting for Claire Etcherelli’s Élise ou la vraie vie (1967). In `La nouvelle Citroën’ (Barthes: 1970 p.150-2) Barthes understands this perfectly and analyses the ways in which the car has become the very icon of France’s modernization. He compares the car to a mediaeval cathedral: both are works produced by anonymous artists which enchant the masses.

Tony McNeill.