The Pleasure of the Text
Back of the Book
What is it that we do when we enjoy a text? What is the pleasure of reading? The French critic and theorist Roland Barthes's answers to these questions constitute perhaps for the first time in the history of criticism . . . not only a poetics of reading . . . but a much more difficult achievement, an erotics of reading . . . . Like filings which gather to form a figure in a magnetic field, the parts and pieces here do come together, determined to affirm the pleasure we must take in our reading as against the indifference of (mere) knowledge. --Richard Howard
We Love It Because
There is a level of seduction that takes place when engaging with The Pleasures of the Text. To read about the erotic power of the written word while being in relationship to an object, reflects the impact of pleasure is a metaphysical and poetic experience. To love reading and to love thinking about reading is a basis for the compelling commentary that Barthes creates.
Memorable Passage
This is a very subtle and nearly untenable status for discourse: narrativity is dismantled yet the story is still readable: never have the two edges of the seam been clearer and more tenuous, never has pleasure been better offered to the reader-if at least he appreciates controlled discontinuities, faked conformities, and indirect destructions.
About the Author
Roland Barthes (1915–1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, and semiotician whose intellectual contributions have left an enduring mark on the fields of literature, cultural studies, and linguistics. Known for his seminal work Mythologies, Barthes examined the cultural significance of everyday objects, revealing the symbolic meanings embedded in popular culture. His influential essay "The Death of the Author" challenged traditional notions of authorship and contributed to the development of poststructuralist thought. Barthes's exploration of semiotics and the concept of the "text" as an open-ended, multilayered structure revolutionized literary analysis. His later work, A Lover's Discourse, delved into the language of love, further showcasing his ability to blend philosophical inquiry with personal reflection. Roland Barthes is worth knowing for his profound influence on literary theory, his deconstruction of established norms, and his transformative impact on the understanding of language and culture in the 20th century.
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