Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes, photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1963.
Born	November 12, 1915(1915-11-12) Cherbourg, France
Died	March 26, 1980(1980-03-26) (aged 64) Paris, France

Roland Gérard Barthes (1915 – 1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, anthropology and post-structuralism.

Life and work

Roland Barthes at the time of the publication of Le Degré zéro de l’écriture, photographed by Robert David, 1953

Roland Barthes was born in Cherbough, Manche. His father died in a naval battle in Barthes' infancy, forcing his mother to move to Bayonne. Barthes spent his early childhood there, until they moved to Paris in 1924 where he attended the Lycée Montagne, followed by studies at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand from 1930-34. Life became difficult for them when Barthes mother had an illegitimate child, for their grandparents refused to give her financial aid, and so she took work as a bookbinder. Barthes was able to continue his studies at the Sorbonne, in classical letters, grammar and philology (receiving a degrees in 1939 and 1943 respectively), and Greek tragedy.

Barthes' doctoral studies were hampered by ill health. He suffered from tuberculosis, spending time in sanatoriums in the years 1934-5 and 1942-46, during the occupation. He continued to read and write, established a theatrical group, and in spite of his condition, managed to teach at lycées in Biarritz (1939), Bayonne (1939-40), Paris (1942-46), at the French Institute, Bucharest, Romania (1948-49), University of Alexandria, Egypt (1949-50), and Direction Générale des Affaires Culturelles (1950-52). His teaching career expanded: research positions with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (1952-59), a directorship of studies at the École Practique des Hautes Étude (1960-76), a teacher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (1967-68), and a chair of literary semiology at Collège de France (1976 to 1980) [1].

Literature

cover of Mythologies

Mythologies, 1957. Download.

Mythologies, 1972. Download.

cover of Mythologies, Spanish version

Image-Music-Text, 1977. Download.

S/Z, 1974. Download.

cover of Criticism and Truth

The rustle of language, 1989. Download.

Camera lucida: Reflections on Photography, 1982.Download.

Elements of Semiology, 1977. Download.

Books by Roland Barthes

Books before 1980

• Le degré zéro de l'écriture, Paris: Seuil, 1953.
  • Writing Degree Zero, trans. Annette Lavers and Colin Smith, New York: Hill and Wang, 1977 (in English).
  • Romanul scriiturii. Antologie, trans. Adriana Babeţi and Delia Şepeţean-Vasiliu, Bucureşti: Univers Publishing House, 1987 (in Romanian).
  • Gradul Zero al scriiturii. Noi eseuri critice, trans. Alex. Cistelcan, Cartier, 2006 (in Romanian).
• Mythologies, Paris: Seuil, 1957.
  • Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1972 (in English).
  • Mythologies: The Complete Edition, in a New Translation, trans. Richard Howard and Annette Lavers, New York: Hill and Wang; Tra edition, 2012 (in English) review.
  • Mythen des Alltags. Vollständige Ausgabetrans, trans. Horst Brühmann, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010 (in German).
• Sur Racine, Paris: Seuil, 1963.
• Éléments de Sémiologie, first appeared in Communications, No. 4, 1964:91-135. reprint: Eléments de sémiologie, Paris: Denoël/Gonthier, 1965 (excepts).
  • Elementos de semiologia, trans. Izidoro Blikstein, São Paulo: Editôra Cultrix, 1971 (in Portuguese).
  • Elements of Semiology, trans. Annette Lavers and Colin Smith, New York: Hill and Wang, 1977 (in English).
• Critique et Vérité, Paris: Seuil, 1966.
  • Criticism and truth, trans. Katrine Pilcher Keuneman, The Athlone Press, 1987, London: Continuum, 2004 (in English).
• S/Z, Paris: Seuil, 1970.
  • S/Z, trans. Richard Miller, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1974 (in English).
• L' Empire des Signes, Paris: Skira, Paris, 1970.
  • Empire of Signs, trans. Richard Howard, New York: Hill and Wang, 1983.
  • Imperiul Semnelor, trans. Alex. Cistelecan, Cartier, 2007 (in Romanian)

• Sade/ Fourier/ Loyola, Paris: Seuil, 1971.
  • Sade, Fourier, Loyola, trans. Richard Miller, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1974, Universty of California Press, 1989 (in English).
• Le Plaisir du texte, Paris: Seuil, 1973.
  • The Pleasure of the Text, trans. Richard Miller, New York: Hill and Wang, 1975 (in English).
  • Plăcerea textului. Roland Barthes despre Roland Barthes. Lecţia, trans. Marian Papahagi and Sorina Dănăilă, Cartier, 2006 (in Romanian).
• Essais Critiques, Paris: Seuil, 1973.
• Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes [Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes], 1975/1977
• Image-Music-Text, essays, New York: Hill and Wang, 1977
• Fragments d’un discours amoureux, Paris: Seuil, 1977
  • A Lover's Discourse: Fragments, trans. Richard Howard, New York: Hill and Wang, 1978.
  • Fragmente dintr-un discurs îndrăgostit, trans. Sorina Dănăilă, Cartier, 2007 (in Romanian).
• Sollers, écrivain, Paris: Seuil, 1979 (in English).
• Nouveaux essais critiques, Paris: Seuil, 1980.
• Essais critiques IV: Le Bruissement de la langue, Paris: Seuil, 1980.
• La chambre claire : note sur la photographie [Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography], 1980-

Books after 1980

• Essais critiques, Paris: Seuil, 1981.
• Le Grain de la voix: Entretiens 1962-80, Paris: Seuil, 1981.
• L'obvie et l'obtus: essais critiques III, Paris: Seuil, 1982.
  • The Responsabily of Form. Critical essays on Music, Art and representation, trans. Richard Howard, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc., 1985 (in English).
  • Lo obvio y lo obtuso: imágenes, gestos, voces, Barcelona: Ediciones Paidos Iberica, S.A., 1986 (in Spanish).
• Le Bruissment De La Langue, Paris: Seuil, 1986.
  • The Rustle of Language, trans. Richard Howard, University of California Press, 1989 (in English).
• Incidents, Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1987 (published posthumously by François Wahl).
  • Incidents, University of California Press, 1992 (in English).
  • Incidente, trans. Iolanda Vasiliu, Cartier, 2007 (in Romanian).
• Œuvres complètes [Complete works], Editions du Seuil: Paris, 1993.
• Journal de deuil [1977-1979], Paris: Éditions du Seuil/Imec, 2009 (in French) review.
  • Jurnal de doliu [26 octombrie 1977 - 15 septembrie 1979], trans. Em. Galaicu-Păun, Cartier, 2009 (in Romanian).

Book chapters and Articles by Barthes

• "Le message photographique", Communications, vol. 1, no.1, 1961:127-138.
  • "The Photographic Message", trans. Stephen Heath, chap. in Image-Music-Text, essays, New York: Hill and Wang, 1977 (Reprint in: A Barthes Reader, ed. Susan Sontag, New York: Hill and Wang, 1982: 194-210).
• "Rhétorique de l'image", Communications, vol. 4, no. 4, 1964:40-51.
  • "Rhetoric of the Image", in Alan Trachtenberg (ed.), Classic Essays on Photography, New Haven: Leete's Island Books, 1980: 269-285.

Publications on Roland Barthes

Articles, papers, chapters

• Susan Sontag, "Remembering Barthes", in Under the Sign of Saturn, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980.
• Alec McHoul and David Wills, "The Late(r) Barthes", Boundary 2 (Fall 85/Winter 86): 261-78.
• Meir Wigoder, "History Begins at Home. Photography and Memory in the Writings of Siegfried Kracauer and Roland Barthes", History and Memory, 13, 1, 2001.
• Jacques Derrida, "Roland Barthes. November 12, 1915 - March 26, 1980", chap. in: Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas (eds.), Jacques Derrida, The Work of Mourning, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001: 31-67.
• Tim Dant & Graeme Gilloch, "Pictures of the Past: Benjamin and Barthes on photography and history", on-line version, published in European Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 5 (1), 2002: 5-25.
• Margaret Olin, "Touching Photographs: Roland Barthes's "Mistaken" Identification", Representations, No. 80 (Autumn, 2002): 99-118.
• Adam Lowenstein, "The Surrealism of the Photographic Image: Bazin, Barthes, and the Digital Sweet Hereafter", Cinema Journal, 46, Number 3, Spring 2007, pp. 54-82 [2]
• Elizabeth Howie, "Photography's Courtly Desires: Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, and the Photographic Beloved", PhD thesis, Chapel Hill, 2007.
• Sebastian Boţic, "Semnalul fotografic. O analiză în marginea teoriei semiotice în fotografie" in Idei in Dialog, no. 12 (63) DECEMBRIE 2009 (in Romanian).

Books on Barthes

• Louis-Jean Calvet, Roland Barthes, un regard politique sur le signe, Paris: Payot, 1973.
• Colloque de Cérisy, Prétexte: Roland Barthes, Paris: Union générale d'éditions, 1978.
• George R. Wasserman, Roland Barthes, Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981.
• Annette Lavers, Roland Barthes: Structuralism and After, London: Methuen & Co., 1982.
• Susan Sontag, "Writing Itself: On Roland Barthes", introduction to Roland Barthes, A Barthes Reader, ed. Susan Sontag, New York: Hill and Wang, 1982.
• Jonathan Culler, Barthes (American Title: Roland Barthes). London: Fontana Modern Masters; New York: Oxford University Press, 1983 (Revised and expanded edition, Roland Barthes: A Very Short Introduction, OUP, Oxford, 2001).
• Réda Bensmaïa, The Barthes Effect: The Essay as Reflective Text, trans. Pat Fedkiew, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.
• Louis-Jean Calvet, Roland Barthes 1915-1980, Paris: Flammarion, 1990.
  • Loius-Jean Calvet, Roland Barthes: A Biography", trans. Sarah Wykes, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994 (in English).
• Jean-Michel Rabaté (ed.), Writing the Image After Roland Barthes, University on Pensylvania Press, 1997.
• Allen Graham, Roland Barthes, London: Routledge, 2003.
• Jean-Claude Milner, El paso filosófico de Roland Barthes, Buenos Aires: Amorrortu, 2004.
• Eric Marty, Roland Barthes, le métier d'écrire, Paris: Seuil, 2006
• More.

External Links

• BARTHES - BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Barthes on Britannica Online
• Roland Barthes on Ubu.sound
• Barthes on Wikipedia
• L'oeuvre de Roland Barthes