Assange vs Zuckerberg: Symbolic Construction of Contemporary Cultural Heroes
运用吉尔伯特·杜兰德的神话分析方法，揭示古代神话如何参与危机时期社会领袖的象征建构，以《时代》周刊年度人物争议中阿桑奇与扎克伯格的维基百科传记为例，发现两者共享赫尔墨斯神话结构。
Myth is a meta-language that shapes our cultures and the way we individually and collectively make sense of reality. This paper presents the methodologies of French anthropologist and sociologist Gilbert Durand as a way to unveil how ancient myths contribute to the symbolic construction of societal leaders in times of crisis. To do so, it analyses the controversy of the selection of Time magazine’s Person of the Year, which confronted the figures of Julien Assange and Mark Zuckerberg. The myth analysis of their Wikipedia biographies will show that despite the fact these two personalities are considered almost opposites, the structure of the collective shared narratives about each of them follow the structure of the myth of Hermes, one shaping the grand narrative of the postmodern era. Realizing why and how the myth of Hermes promotes our contemporary leaders, sometimes apparent antagonists, contributes to better understanding of the unconscious drives of their symbolic construction, and enabling critical engagement with the rationales of their emergence.