[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-114404-en":3,"doc-seo-114404-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":89},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},114404,8796095461564,"Liam","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",2,"Literature","Mythomania - Peter Conrad - Exploring 21st Century Mythologies","Mythomania by Peter Conrad traces the rise and cultural power of modern myths through a set of “21st Century Mythologies” radio talks later revised into a cumulative book. The work maps myth-making across contemporary symbols, brands, media scenes, and everyday language, linking pop culture and public discourse to broader political, religious, and economic disputes. Expanded chapters add essays on neon, Dubai, Michael Jackson, and other modern icons, while new sections frame myth’s role in society and imagination.","[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nAbout the Author  \nPeter Conrad is the author of more than twenty acclaimed books on many subjects. Born in Australia, he taught English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, for many years and since first acquiring an apartment in Greenwich Village in 1980 has divided his time between London and the United States.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nOther titles of interest published by Thames & Hudson include:  \nCreation: Artists, Gods & Origins How the World Was Won: The Americanization of Everywhere Modern Times, Modern Places: Life andArt in the 20th Century Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries  \n[www.thamesandhudson.com](www.thamesandhudson.com)  \n[www.thamesandhudsonusa.com](www.thamesandhudsonusa.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nContents  \nAcknowledgments  \n1 SKY SIGNS  \n2 A NEWER TESTAMENT  \nApple’s Apple  \nDevilled Chicken  \nA Neon Covenant  \nOn Sacred Ground  \nBabel-on-Thames  \nWriting on Walls  \nThe Mind of God?  \n3 IN THE PANTHEON  \nAn Alien from Windsor Air Force One × 2  \nJudy and Justitia  \nNarcissus on a Stick  \nKhaos Theory  \nDaemon Dogs  \n4 FORMS AND THEIR CONTENT  \nAViral Dessert  \nUtterly Oyster  \nNooks and Kobos  \nVaping  \nAMirage  \n5 THE HUMAN THING  \nIn the Dino Gym  \nVamping  \nAn Electronic Odalisque  \nAn Alien from Mars  \nIncredibility An Android  \nThe Zombie Plane  \nBergs and Gyres  \nAlmost There!  \n6 WARS IN HEAVEN  \nIndex  \nCopyright  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nAcknowledgments  \nThis book had its origins in a request from David Stenhouse, who in the summer of 2014 asked me to write and present on BBC Radio 4 a series of talks entitled 21st Century Mythologies. David’s idea was to find contemporary equivalents of the subjects whose mystique Roland Barthes examined in his book Mythologies. After some friendly haggling we settled on fifteen topics; I can now hardly remember who suggested what, although it was certainly David who ensured that Nando’s remained on the list (and, despite my initial reluctance, I am glad that he did) . David’s enthusiasm and his generosity with his own ideas made this one of my happiest and most invigorating collaborative experiences.  \n‘Radio 4 has all sorts of people talking all day long,’ David said at the start.‘These programmes have to be different: they have to be Barthesian.’ I secretly quailed at the thought of having to match Barthes’ exalted intellectual manner, and I was relieved that David allowed me to go my own way. I tried to devise a personal version of Barthes’ method, but despite my admiration I became increasingly aware of the distance between his times and our own, which made me question some of his attitudes and assumptions. His prejudice against the bourgeoisie now seems quaint, as does his mockery of America; it also worried me that his semiotic theory defined myth too narrowly and ignored its cultural history. My talks developed into a good-humoured argument with Barthes, not an act of mimicry.  \nThey may not have been Barthesian, but they were certainly different, and that seemed to appeal to listeners. After the broadcasts, which were  \nspread over three weeks in late September and early October 2014, David sent me an anthology of comments circulated on social media by members of our invisible audience. Among them was one from a man who called me his ‘mindgasm’; more touchingly – if a little more tamely – a woman told her Facebook friends that one of the talks had cheered her up while she was waiting in the rain for a bus that never arrived. To my delight, a series of monologues had opened out into a conversation.  \nUnable to leave the subject alone, I decided to make the programmes the basis of a book. Revised, expanded and rearranged into a cumulative story, the radio scripts reappear here. I have added essays on neon, Dubai, Michael Jackson, and the Incredibles, which derive from articles commissioned by The Observer. The remaining chapters – on Banksy, Stephen Hawking, Jud","cbCaiv4XqJBeiQoV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv4XqJBeiQoV","pdf",2347757,1,255,"English","en",105,"# Contents\n## Acknowledgments\n## 1 SKY SIGNS\n## 2 A NEWER TESTAMENT\n## 3 IN THE PANTHEON\n## 4 FORMS AND THEIR CONTENT\n## 5 THE HUMAN THING\n## 6 WARS IN HEAVEN\n## Index\n## Copyright","[{\"question\":\"What is the origin of Mythomania?\",\"answer\":\"The book originated from Peter Conrad’s BBC Radio 4 request to present a series of talks titled “21st Century Mythologies,” inspired by Roland Barthes’ book Mythologies.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the radio material transformed into this book?\",\"answer\":\"After the broadcasts in late September and early October 2014, the radio scripts were revised, expanded, and rearranged into a cumulative story for the book.\"},{\"question\":\"What new content was added beyond the original radio chapters?\",\"answer\":\"Conrad added essays on subjects including neon, Dubai, Michael Jackson, and the Incredibles, and introduced new chapters on topics such as Banksy, Stephen Hawking, Judge Judy, Air Force One, and several others.\"}]",1785399512,393,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":84,"head_meta":86,"extra_data":88,"updated_unix":27},"mythomania-peter-conrad-exploring-21st-century-mythologies","",{"@graph":35,"@context":83},[36,52,66],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,46,49],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":47,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mythomania-peter-conrad-exploring-21st-century-mythologies/114404/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":60,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":61,"interactionStatistic":62},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":40,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-30",true,{"@type":63,"interactionType":64,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":65},"ViewAction",{"@type":67,"mainEntity":68},"FAQPage",[69,75,79],{"name":70,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":72},"What is the origin of Mythomania?","Question",{"text":73,"@type":74},"The book originated from Peter Conrad’s BBC Radio 4 request to present a series of talks titled “21st Century Mythologies,” inspired by Roland Barthes’ book Mythologies.","Answer",{"name":76,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":77},"How was the radio material transformed into this book?",{"text":78,"@type":74},"After the broadcasts in late September and early October 2014, the radio scripts were revised, expanded, and rearranged into a cumulative story for the book.",{"name":80,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":81},"What new content was added beyond the original radio chapters?",{"text":82,"@type":74},"Conrad added essays on subjects including neon, Dubai, Michael Jackson, and the Incredibles, and introduced new chapters on topics such as Banksy, Stephen Hawking, Judge Judy, Air Force One, and several others.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":85,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":87,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":90},[91,95,98,102,107,112,117,122,127,130,134],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]