Abstract

The contemporary imaginary mirrors an intensive presence of science and technology in modern-day society. In the cultural field, several successful film series have been fed by this scientific-technological imaginary and have contributed to fuel it. This paper investigates what main archetypal images (and myths derived from them) have predominated in the contemporary scientific-technological imaginary. Its goal is to contribute to an investigation into how archetypes may be acting in the cultural identification process established among the audiences of mass culture products and specific world visions. The object of study is the scientific-technological imaginary built by two successful cinema productions: Star Wars and Batman–The Dark Knight Trilogy. The methodology uses mapping and analysis of symbolic elements and their semiosis. The study is based mainly on Gilbert Durand’s anthropological theory about the imaginary. These preliminary results will be used in an investigation on the collective imaginary shared by fans of science and technology in pop culture in Brazil and in the United States.