The Play of Differences and Repetitions as the Engine of Contemporary Serial Culture

The subject of this study is the transformation of mythological consciousness within contemporary serial culture, which operates in the logic of consumer society as a space for the free circulation of signs detached from moral and aesthetic judgments. The author draws on key concepts of postmodern philosophy — the simulacrum (J. Baudrillard) and discrete myth (R. Barthes) — to demonstrate how serial culture produces not new meanings but endless variations of already existing narrative blocks. Drawing on the series Dexter and Stranger Things, the author analyzes two strategies of engaging with myth: the exposure of the psychopathological core of the superhero narrative and the construction of a nostalgic collage of quotes from 1980s culture. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of binge-watching, which transforms the series from a linear text into a cyclical environment where repetition ceases to be a sign of exhaustion and becomes a condition of comfort. The research methodology synthesizes the semiotic analysis of R. Barthes, the psychoanalytic approach, G. Debord's theory of the society of the spectacle, and Y. Lotman's structural-narrative analysis. The scientific novelty lies in identifying the dual function of meta-irony, which does not deconstruct myth but paradoxically entrenches it in mass consciousness through citation and repetition. Unlike classical mythology, which sought to resolve contradictions, contemporary serial culture preserves and aestheticizes them. The main conclusions are as follows: in consumer society, moral oppositions are transformed into raw material for the play of signifiers; meta-irony negates the content of myth while affirming its form; serial culture generates permanent anticipation, replacing catharsis with ritualized repetition; Dexter and Stranger Things represent two complementary strategies for the naturalization of contemporary myth, and their success with audiences testifies to a deep demand for predictability packaged in the form of irony and self-reflection.