Philippe Roger
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266670
- eISBN:
- 9780191905391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266670.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Barthes doesn’t think in terms of identity, even less national identity, yet amongst his contemporaries (the ‘French theorists’) his writing seems the most ‘French’. He admits this somewhat ...
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Barthes doesn’t think in terms of identity, even less national identity, yet amongst his contemporaries (the ‘French theorists’) his writing seems the most ‘French’. He admits this somewhat paradoxically by devoting sarcastic analyses to ‘Frenchness’ whilst testifying, in the more intimate pages of Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes, to a profound attachment to the ‘land’ of his childhood, the ‘light of the South-West’, ways of being and speaking, or of preferring pears to exotic fruit. This book sparked the revisionist reading of Barthes’s intellectual itinerary that would gather momentum after his death: behind the structuralist and fellow-traveller of the avant-garde lurked a conservative writer, a crypto-Gidian explorer of the self. In fact, a benefit of the 1975 commission was to enable Barthes’s return to anthropology. Michelet par lui-même (1954) and Mythologies (1957) had allowed Barthes to explore national identity in historical and anthropological terms, and a custom-made ‘ethnology of France’ (‘Notre France, in the manner of Michelet’) was a persistent project. Although formulated with calculated lightness, the question of Frenchness runs throughout this ‘Barthes by himself’; far from signalling a farewell to politics and ideology, it provided the right frame for a socio-anthropological exploration of France and Barthes’s ‘French’ identity.Less
Barthes doesn’t think in terms of identity, even less national identity, yet amongst his contemporaries (the ‘French theorists’) his writing seems the most ‘French’. He admits this somewhat paradoxically by devoting sarcastic analyses to ‘Frenchness’ whilst testifying, in the more intimate pages of Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes, to a profound attachment to the ‘land’ of his childhood, the ‘light of the South-West’, ways of being and speaking, or of preferring pears to exotic fruit. This book sparked the revisionist reading of Barthes’s intellectual itinerary that would gather momentum after his death: behind the structuralist and fellow-traveller of the avant-garde lurked a conservative writer, a crypto-Gidian explorer of the self. In fact, a benefit of the 1975 commission was to enable Barthes’s return to anthropology. Michelet par lui-même (1954) and Mythologies (1957) had allowed Barthes to explore national identity in historical and anthropological terms, and a custom-made ‘ethnology of France’ (‘Notre France, in the manner of Michelet’) was a persistent project. Although formulated with calculated lightness, the question of Frenchness runs throughout this ‘Barthes by himself’; far from signalling a farewell to politics and ideology, it provided the right frame for a socio-anthropological exploration of France and Barthes’s ‘French’ identity.
William Cloonan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941329
- eISBN:
- 9781789629101
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941329.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
Frères Ennemis focuses on Franco-American tensions as portrayed in works of literature. An Introduction is followed by nine chapters, each centred on a French or American literary text which shows ...
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Frères Ennemis focuses on Franco-American tensions as portrayed in works of literature. An Introduction is followed by nine chapters, each centred on a French or American literary text which shows the evolution/devolution of the relations between the two nations at a particular point in time. While the heart of the analysis consists of close textual readings, social, cultural and political contexts are introduced to provide a better understanding of the historical reality influencing the individual novels, a reality to which these novels are also responding. Chapters One through Five, covering a period from the mid-1870s to the end of the Cold War, discuss significant aspects of the often fraught relationship in part from the theoretical perspective of Roland Barthes’ theory of modern myth, described in his Mythologies. Barthes’ theory helps situate Franco-American tensions in a paradigmatic structure, which remains supple enough to allow for shifts and reversals within the paradigm. Subsequent chapters explore new French attitudes toward the powerful, potentially dominant influence of American culture on French life. In these sections I argue that recent French fiction displays more openness to the American experience than has existed in the past, and contrast this overture to the new with the relatively static, even indifferent attitude of American writers toward French literature.Less
Frères Ennemis focuses on Franco-American tensions as portrayed in works of literature. An Introduction is followed by nine chapters, each centred on a French or American literary text which shows the evolution/devolution of the relations between the two nations at a particular point in time. While the heart of the analysis consists of close textual readings, social, cultural and political contexts are introduced to provide a better understanding of the historical reality influencing the individual novels, a reality to which these novels are also responding. Chapters One through Five, covering a period from the mid-1870s to the end of the Cold War, discuss significant aspects of the often fraught relationship in part from the theoretical perspective of Roland Barthes’ theory of modern myth, described in his Mythologies. Barthes’ theory helps situate Franco-American tensions in a paradigmatic structure, which remains supple enough to allow for shifts and reversals within the paradigm. Subsequent chapters explore new French attitudes toward the powerful, potentially dominant influence of American culture on French life. In these sections I argue that recent French fiction displays more openness to the American experience than has existed in the past, and contrast this overture to the new with the relatively static, even indifferent attitude of American writers toward French literature.
William Cloonan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941329
- eISBN:
- 9781789629101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941329.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
The Introduction explains that this study will focus on close readings of selected French and German novels to indicate the evolution and devolution of Franco-American images of each other. Roland ...
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The Introduction explains that this study will focus on close readings of selected French and German novels to indicate the evolution and devolution of Franco-American images of each other. Roland Barthes’s theory of modern myth will be used in some chapters, but not in all. For each chapter historical and cultural background is provided.Less
The Introduction explains that this study will focus on close readings of selected French and German novels to indicate the evolution and devolution of Franco-American images of each other. Roland Barthes’s theory of modern myth will be used in some chapters, but not in all. For each chapter historical and cultural background is provided.
Maria Voyatzaki
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474420570
- eISBN:
- 9781474453905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474420570.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Maria Voyatzaki begins by dwelling on the question: if technical, material objects are inorganic, organised beings, possessing their own dynamics that give to matter the hallmark of vital activity ...
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Maria Voyatzaki begins by dwelling on the question: if technical, material objects are inorganic, organised beings, possessing their own dynamics that give to matter the hallmark of vital activity with a strong claim on human experience, behaviour and perception, then what is happening with architecture?
The chapter elaborates on the new speculative, but not dogmatic, axioms and mythologies that are expressed with machinic parrhesia; the world, and therefore architecture, become a challenging project. Digitising the analogue, once again, but, this time, with aspirations towards a new earth, the returning Gaia, by experimenting with its dust we can construct new perspectives on matter. It is experimentation with the ‛other’, the ‛xenon’ that aims at proposing a new way of forming an innovative view on earth by redefining its geopolitics and territorial disputes from polluted waters that travel through nations to micro particles in the air. Architecture is working on ‛xenomateriality’ to define new polities, new spatiotemporal assemblages with specific demands.Less
Maria Voyatzaki begins by dwelling on the question: if technical, material objects are inorganic, organised beings, possessing their own dynamics that give to matter the hallmark of vital activity with a strong claim on human experience, behaviour and perception, then what is happening with architecture?
The chapter elaborates on the new speculative, but not dogmatic, axioms and mythologies that are expressed with machinic parrhesia; the world, and therefore architecture, become a challenging project. Digitising the analogue, once again, but, this time, with aspirations towards a new earth, the returning Gaia, by experimenting with its dust we can construct new perspectives on matter. It is experimentation with the ‛other’, the ‛xenon’ that aims at proposing a new way of forming an innovative view on earth by redefining its geopolitics and territorial disputes from polluted waters that travel through nations to micro particles in the air. Architecture is working on ‛xenomateriality’ to define new polities, new spatiotemporal assemblages with specific demands.
Nina Levine and David Lee Miller
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230303
- eISBN:
- 9780823241071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823230303.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Genius's semblaunce is something that is pleasing but does not please, obviously makes him one of the usual suspects for what Berger calls the “conspicuous irrelevance” of a mismatched trope. If ...
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Genius's semblaunce is something that is pleasing but does not please, obviously makes him one of the usual suspects for what Berger calls the “conspicuous irrelevance” of a mismatched trope. If pleasure has no meaning, if we cannot read pleasure, then it holds no danger for the reader who successfully imitates this Genius. Even when we consider all of the textual genealogy attached to Genius, from the Roman de la Rose to Conti's Mythologies, we cannot bring this vehicle to a tropological destination, an Idea that pins Genius in place.Less
Genius's semblaunce is something that is pleasing but does not please, obviously makes him one of the usual suspects for what Berger calls the “conspicuous irrelevance” of a mismatched trope. If pleasure has no meaning, if we cannot read pleasure, then it holds no danger for the reader who successfully imitates this Genius. Even when we consider all of the textual genealogy attached to Genius, from the Roman de la Rose to Conti's Mythologies, we cannot bring this vehicle to a tropological destination, an Idea that pins Genius in place.
Linnell Secomb
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748623679
- eISBN:
- 9780748671854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623679.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter turns to the work of Roland Barthes, outlining his theories of textual interpretation — his theories of myth and code — as a basis for understanding his reflections on lover's ...
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This chapter turns to the work of Roland Barthes, outlining his theories of textual interpretation — his theories of myth and code — as a basis for understanding his reflections on lover's discourses. It also determines the transitions and continuities between structuralism and its ‘post’, utilising three Barthesian texts: Mythologies, S/Z and A Lover's Discourse. Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail uses multiple discourses that may be explored via Barthes' articulation of the mythologies and codes of the text. Barthes' ‘Myth Today’ enables a reading beyond the explicit meaning or narrative level revealing a meta-language or meta-narrative hidden in both the filmic and the theoretical texts. While in S/Z, Barthes shows the intertextuality of texts, in A Lover's Discourse, he enacts (rather than explaining) this inter-textuality. The latter is a reflection of the obsessions and anxieties of love which attempts an impossible transgression.Less
This chapter turns to the work of Roland Barthes, outlining his theories of textual interpretation — his theories of myth and code — as a basis for understanding his reflections on lover's discourses. It also determines the transitions and continuities between structuralism and its ‘post’, utilising three Barthesian texts: Mythologies, S/Z and A Lover's Discourse. Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail uses multiple discourses that may be explored via Barthes' articulation of the mythologies and codes of the text. Barthes' ‘Myth Today’ enables a reading beyond the explicit meaning or narrative level revealing a meta-language or meta-narrative hidden in both the filmic and the theoretical texts. While in S/Z, Barthes shows the intertextuality of texts, in A Lover's Discourse, he enacts (rather than explaining) this inter-textuality. The latter is a reflection of the obsessions and anxieties of love which attempts an impossible transgression.
Nikolaj Lübecker
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780748697977
- eISBN:
- 9781474412209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748697977.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This short section demonstrates that Ruben Östlund’s film Play combines the logics of assault (analysed in the first chapter) with those of unease (analysed in the second chapter). Furthermore, it ...
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This short section demonstrates that Ruben Östlund’s film Play combines the logics of assault (analysed in the first chapter) with those of unease (analysed in the second chapter). Furthermore, it argues that with Play Östlund attempts occupy the position of the ‘mythologist’ (Roland Barthes): he creates images that can trigger stereotypical readings (here: racist responses), but he also hopes the spectator will step back and engage with these images in a self-reflexive and critical way. The story of the film’s reception demonstrates how difficult this exercise is; it demonstrates how explosive the combination of ambiguity and controversial subject matter is.Less
This short section demonstrates that Ruben Östlund’s film Play combines the logics of assault (analysed in the first chapter) with those of unease (analysed in the second chapter). Furthermore, it argues that with Play Östlund attempts occupy the position of the ‘mythologist’ (Roland Barthes): he creates images that can trigger stereotypical readings (here: racist responses), but he also hopes the spectator will step back and engage with these images in a self-reflexive and critical way. The story of the film’s reception demonstrates how difficult this exercise is; it demonstrates how explosive the combination of ambiguity and controversial subject matter is.
Philip Watts, Dudley Andrew, Yves Citton, Vincent Debaene, and Sam Di Iorio
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190277543
- eISBN:
- 9780190277574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190277543.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, Criticism/Theory
It is often said that Barthes was allergic to film, that he didn’t like the movies. Marie Gil, one of Barthes’ biographers, speaks of his inability to “understand” cinema. But the term Barthes used ...
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It is often said that Barthes was allergic to film, that he didn’t like the movies. Marie Gil, one of Barthes’ biographers, speaks of his inability to “understand” cinema. But the term Barthes used was “resistance.” Resistance is a sort of compromise between fascination and repulsion, or rather the alternation of critique and fascination, of turning away from while turning toward the sensual delectation of the image. Barthes wrote about movies his whole life, as a kind of working-through of this resistance. Along with demystification comes a delight in the trivial, the ordinary, the sensual existence of common things. This is all the more evident in his writings in cinema, where we see both the heavy-handed apparatus of demystification and the enthrallment with cinema’s ability to reveal the ordinary, to present the everyday for our pleasure.Less
It is often said that Barthes was allergic to film, that he didn’t like the movies. Marie Gil, one of Barthes’ biographers, speaks of his inability to “understand” cinema. But the term Barthes used was “resistance.” Resistance is a sort of compromise between fascination and repulsion, or rather the alternation of critique and fascination, of turning away from while turning toward the sensual delectation of the image. Barthes wrote about movies his whole life, as a kind of working-through of this resistance. Along with demystification comes a delight in the trivial, the ordinary, the sensual existence of common things. This is all the more evident in his writings in cinema, where we see both the heavy-handed apparatus of demystification and the enthrallment with cinema’s ability to reveal the ordinary, to present the everyday for our pleasure.
Philip Watts, Dudley Andrew, Yves Citton, Vincent Debaene, and Sam Di Iorio
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190277543
- eISBN:
- 9780190277574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190277543.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, Criticism/Theory
Alongside the celebrated essays on wrestling and steak-frites, the Tour de France, and laundry detergent—“l’euphorie d’Omo”—that make up Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, we find a surprising number of ...
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Alongside the celebrated essays on wrestling and steak-frites, the Tour de France, and laundry detergent—“l’euphorie d’Omo”—that make up Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, we find a surprising number of essays devoted to movies, television advertisement, actors, and film technology. Barthes writes about Joseph Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar, Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, Chaplin’s Modern Times, Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity, the Italian anthropological documentary Continente perduto, Greta Garbo in Queen Christina, Sacha Guitry’s costume farce Si Versailles m’était conté, Visconti’s La Terra Trema, the Biblical epic The Robe, a French espionage film set during World War I (Deuxième Bureau contre Kommandantur), a biopic of l’abbé Pierre, Jacques Becker’s Touchez pas au grisbi, Claude Chabrol’s Le Beau Serge, the advent of CinemaScope, the airy gestures of film noir gangsters, studio portraits of actors, Audrey Hepburn’s modernism, Marlon Brando’s wedding, and Michèle Morgan’s divorce.Less
Alongside the celebrated essays on wrestling and steak-frites, the Tour de France, and laundry detergent—“l’euphorie d’Omo”—that make up Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, we find a surprising number of essays devoted to movies, television advertisement, actors, and film technology. Barthes writes about Joseph Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar, Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, Chaplin’s Modern Times, Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity, the Italian anthropological documentary Continente perduto, Greta Garbo in Queen Christina, Sacha Guitry’s costume farce Si Versailles m’était conté, Visconti’s La Terra Trema, the Biblical epic The Robe, a French espionage film set during World War I (Deuxième Bureau contre Kommandantur), a biopic of l’abbé Pierre, Jacques Becker’s Touchez pas au grisbi, Claude Chabrol’s Le Beau Serge, the advent of CinemaScope, the airy gestures of film noir gangsters, studio portraits of actors, Audrey Hepburn’s modernism, Marlon Brando’s wedding, and Michèle Morgan’s divorce.
Philip Watts, Dudley Andrew, Yves Citton, Vincent Debaene, and Sam Di Iorio
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190277543
- eISBN:
- 9780190277574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190277543.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, Criticism/Theory
A favorite target for the demystifier, cinema at the same time allows Barthes to have a unique encounter with the world, to see people and things in a way that no other medium would let him. One ...
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A favorite target for the demystifier, cinema at the same time allows Barthes to have a unique encounter with the world, to see people and things in a way that no other medium would let him. One finds his clearest statement on this in an article on Stendhal, written in 1957, the same year he published Mythologies. The use of the somewhat archaic term photogénie is telling, since Barthes seems to follow its common acceptation, which is tied to French Impressionist cinema: the camera’s ability to capture the poetry of the everyday, the cinématographe as an intensifier of the real.Less
A favorite target for the demystifier, cinema at the same time allows Barthes to have a unique encounter with the world, to see people and things in a way that no other medium would let him. One finds his clearest statement on this in an article on Stendhal, written in 1957, the same year he published Mythologies. The use of the somewhat archaic term photogénie is telling, since Barthes seems to follow its common acceptation, which is tied to French Impressionist cinema: the camera’s ability to capture the poetry of the everyday, the cinématographe as an intensifier of the real.