It contains a collection of fifty-three short essays written between 1954 to 1956, most of which were first published in the French literary review Les Lettres nouvelles.

In these essays, Barthes examines the tendency of contemporary social value systems (specifically that of the bourgeoisie) to create modern myths.

In a typical example, Barthes describes the image that has been built up around red wine and how it has been adopted as a French national drink, how it is seen as a social equaliser and the drink of the proletariat, partly because it is seen as blood-like (as in Holy Communion) and points out that very little attention is paid to red wine's harmful effects to health, but that it is instead viewed as life-giving and refreshing — 'in cold weather, it is associated with all the myths of becoming warm, and at the height of summer, with all the images of shade, with all things cool and sparkling.

He describes how, unlike in the sport of boxing, the aim of theatrical stunt fighting is not to discover who will win or 'a demonstration of excellence',[3] it is a staged spectacle acting out society's basic concepts of good and evil, of 'Suffering, Defeat and Justice'.

[4] The actors pretending to be wrestlers, like characters in a pantomime, portray grossly exaggerated stereotypes of human weakness: the traitor, the conceited, the 'effeminate teddy-boy'.

The audience expects to watch them suffer and be punished for their own transgressions of wrestling's rules in a theatrical version of society's ideology of justice.

As in the example of the red wine, mythologies are formed to perpetuate an idea of society that adheres to the current ideologies of the ruling class and its media.

But it has been chosen by the magazine to symbolise more than the young man; the picture, in combination with the signifieds of Frenchness, militariness, and relative ethnic difference, gives us a message about France and its citizens.

But whether naively or not, I see very well what it signifies to me: that France is a great Empire, that all her sons, without any colour discrimination, faithfully serve under the flag, and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors ...[10]Exploring the concept of myth, Barthes seeks to grasp the relations between language and power.

Barthes' point was that dominant groups or ideas in society become so obvious or common sense that they don't have to draw attention to themselves by giving themselves a name.

[26] Barthes refers to the tendency of socially constructed notions, narratives, and assumptions to become "naturalized" in the process, that is, taken unquestioningly as given within a particular culture.

There are analogies between Mythologies (1957) and Marshal McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride (1951), in which a series popular mass culture products (such as advertisements and magazine articles) are exhibited and critically analyzed.

[27][28] Mythologies was first published in English in 1972, translated by Annette Lavers and issued by Jonathan Cape in England and by Hill & Wang in the United States.

This edition retains Annette Lavers’ full translation of Barthes’ explanatory analysis, “Myth Today,” as the second part of the book.