Roland Barthes Summary

Critical Essay by Roland A. Champagne Literary theory has not yet found its place in literary history. Many Anglo-Americans are skeptical about its place in literary transactions because literary the... Read more

Critical Essay by Christopher Prendergast Two writers, Nietzsche and Gide, both of whom played a decisive role in Barthes's intellectual formation, once compared their mode of thinking as anal... Read more

Critical Essay by Edward Jayne If a consistent theory of criticism emerges in [the] discontinuity of perspectives offered by Barthes … throughout his career, it very probably depends on what m... Read more

Critical Essay by Frank Kermode [Barthes] has powerful opponents at home, but I doubt whether there will be much raising of voices here, and the reason is not simply that we are insular. Although Bar... Read more

Critical Essay by Susan Sontag Writing Degree Zero probably isn't the easiest text with which to start an acquaintance with Barthes. The book is compact to the point of ellipsis, often arcane.... Read more

Critical Essay by Gérard Genette The work of Roland Barthes is apparently highly varied, both in its object (literature, clothes, cinema, painting, advertising, music, news items, etc.) and in... Read more

Critical Essay by Clara Claiborne Park When the Author died in France in 1968, it was Roland Barthes who with his essay "La mort de l'auteur" administered the coup de grâc... Read more

Critical Essay by Paul de Man Despite the refinements of modern means of communication, the relationship between Anglo-American and continental—especially French—literary criticism rema... Read more

Critical Essay by Geoffrey H. Hartman These are still the Banquet Years in France, though not everyone will savor the feast of books and essays produced there since 1945. One might have thought that ... Read more

Critical Essay by Tzvetan Todorov A personal relationship linked me with Roland Barthes while he was alive, and it did not end with his death. I cannot claim even the illusion of impartiality if I am... Read more

In the following essay, Taylor presents an overview of Barthes's works, concluding that they remain fascinating objects of study because they reveal his inner turmoil as well as his complex cri... Read more

In the following essay, Metzidakis traces a change in Barthes's use of the term “image” in his writings, asserting that it corresponds to a change of attitude in his critical thin... Read more

In the following excerpt, originally published in French in 1990, Calvet examines works by Barthes published after his death and summarizes his intellectual and activist legacy. After his death, th... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1994, Chambers comments on Barthes's treatment of his homosexuality in Incidents and Soirées de Paris in the context of postcolonialism an... Read more