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Analyzing the Image Regime of M. Ocelot's Azur and Asmar : Reflections on the Role of Mythic Criticism in Contemporary Society

  • Cross-Cultural Studies
  • 2024, 73(), pp.163-210
  • DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2024.73..163
  • Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Literature
  • Received : September 4, 2024
  • Accepted : October 11, 2024
  • Published : October 31, 2024

Aelee Lim 1

1서강대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

According to R. Barthes, myths in contemporary society are constructed through bourgeois ideology, which prevails in French society, using texts and images in mass media that address everyday cultural phenomena at specific times and for specific purposes. However, myth critics should employ the meta-language function of myths as a means to critique the unconscious mythological ideology produced by the media. Recognizing the importance of this new mythic criticism, G. Durand sought to revive the image-centered mythic archetype that encompassed heroic myths shaped under the binaries of rationalism. Consequently, this article examines the role of myth as a meta-language that critiques the heroic myths of contemporary Western society through its ideology in the French animation directed by M. Ocelot, Azur and Asmar (2006). We also explore the possibility of restoring an authentic myth of image-centeredness that not only accepts these heroic myths, as Durand suggests, but also integrates them, utilizing the image regime depicted in the animation. Our findings indicate that the utopia Ocelot envisioned in his work manifests as a mythical space where a dialectical unity occurs between the opposites in the binary image system of Western society. Ocelot's narrative experiments with the proper nouns ‘Azur’ and ‘Asmar’, which represent the opposites ‘blue’ and ‘brown’ in the binary image regime, by employing various adjectives and verbs that blur the distinctions between these opposites. Through Ocelot's innovative image regime that engages in creative experimentation, we observe a transformation in the image regime from Schizomorphic structures, trapped in dichotomous opposites, to Mystical structures of juxtaposition and coexistence, and ultimately to Synthetic structures of reconciliation and unity. Ocelot's ongoing narrative experiments consistently challenge traditional hero myths. Hence, it is essential to continue defining the role of myth criticism in contemporary society through his creative endeavors.

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