The Sociological Functions of Myth in Contemporary Iranian Painting Regarding Claude Lévi-Strauss

Man thinks with language, symbols and myths and interacts with his surroundings. Myth and art have a common theme because they both speak of the unconscious. The reproduction of ancient myths in contemporary paintings also shows this connection and interest. Prominent anthropologist and mythologist Claude Levi-Strauss, one of the pioneers of structuralist theory, considers human thinking to be dialectical. In other words, man resolves the conflicts of his life through double confrontations. Thus, from the point of view of Levi-Strauss, the distinctive feature of mythology is the elimination or, in a more precise sense, the modification of the contrasts it expresses. Complex and unsolvable confrontations such as the confrontation between culture and nature as well as the confrontation of life and death. And myths help man to solve his problems by creating similar but solvable contradictions and putting them next to unsolvable contradictions. Thus, for Strauss, myth is the search to find the immutable among superficial differences. In this way, myth according to Levi-Strauss can have different functions such as moral function, social function, cultural function and psychological function. Iranian painters, along with artists around the world, have paid special attention to the function of myth in art. Based on their individual and social experiences, they have addressed their concerns in their own way through the creation of works of art.The aim of this study was to investigate the dual structural contrasts with the sociological function of myth based on the views of Levi-Strauss and how it is reflected in contemporary Iranian painting.The main research questions are: 1. What are the effective factors in the formation of the sociological function of myth in contemporary Iranian painting? 2. How has myth, based on the views of Levi-Strauss, found a sociological function in Iranian painting? This research has been completed by descriptive-analytical method based on library studies and observation of works.The studied works have been selected from the works of contemporary Iranian painters by judgmental sampling method. Each of the contemporary artists studied, in terms of individual and social experiences, has addressed their concerns in their own way through the creation of works of art; Therefore, the factors influencing the formation of the sociological function of myth in the works of art are different.The results of the research show that contemporary Iranian artists, relying on Iranian myths, have resorted to research and search to find a way to their ideal world. This reliance on Iranian myths has been to such an extent that these artists, in their quest to achieve human values and criticize inhuman temperament, have also given Iranian aspects to Western myths, using symbolic methods of variety in their works. Their painting has emerged, which can be explained by the views of Levi-Strauss.