A study of Etiemble’s colonial discourse critique through Barthes’s mythology

Abstract Drawing on Roland Barthes’s mythology theory centering on the second-order semiological system, naturalization and depoliticization, this paper analyzes René Etiemble’s 1930s critiques of Western colonial discourse about China. Etiemble argues Western texts construct a backward, irrational “Oriental Other” across economic, political and cultural spheres: they deny China’s industrial capacity for imperial gains, disguise the Kuomintang’s fascist New Life Movement as Christian salvation, and whitewash the opium trade to justify colonial civilizing missions. These narratives erase exploitative historical realities, depoliticize unequal power relations, and falsely naturalize Western civilizational superiority. Etiemble demystifies colonial myths through economic data evidence, cross-cultural fascist comparisons, juxtaposed contradictory texts, and real-world anti-colonial activism. He establishes two anti-Eurocentric counter-narratives: the “red sacred site” of Chinese Soviet areas and China’s vibrant cultural heritage. However, this study uncovers a semiotic paradox: these progressive symbolic images may be simplified, romanticized or depoliticized in cross-cultural circulation, easily transformed into new static myths. This research validates Barthes’s semiotic framework for postcolonial analysis of Western China narratives and highlights that myth critique must be anchored in specific historical contexts to avoid such discursive limitations.