Comparative analysis of the theories of myth by U. Eco and R. Barthes (the philosophical and cultural aspect)

The study aims to identify the specifics of the theories of myth by Umberto Eco and Roland Barthes, as well as the similarity of these theories through a comparative analysis of their philosophical and cultural texts. The paper analyzes the theories of myth by the specified researchers taking into account the following aspects: myth as a special semiotic system; myth integrality, polyfunctionality; myth ideologization; susceptibility of myth to constant semantic metamorphoses, etc. As a result of the study, the thesis that the theories of myth by R. Barthes and U. Eco are isomorphic in all the above-mentioned aspects was substantiated. It was shown that in the theories of both thinkers, myth is seen as a central phenomenon, which is an “open text”, the basis of hyperreality and ideological systems in modern culture.