The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition: content, ideological schema, the blurring of contradictions—these are repeated, but the superficial forms are varied: always new books, new programs, new films, news items, but always the same meaning.

La forme bâtarde de la culture de masse est la répétition honteuse: on répète les contenus, les schèmes idéologiques, le gommage des contradictions, mais on varie les formes superficielles: toujours des livres, des émissions, des films nouveaux, des faits divers, mais toujours le même sens.

Original text (French)

Another quote →

More quotes by Roland Barthes

All Roland Barthes quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Roland Barthes (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.