Roland Barthes

Date of Birth:

12-Nov-1915

Nationality:

France

Profession:

Philosopher

Roland Barthes was a pioneer literary theorist, philosopher and linguist whose works had a profound impact on structuralism, semiotics and anthropology. Here are a few interesting facts from the life of this renowned mythologist. He wrote on a variety of faux passes -- plastic, strip tease, wrestling, steak and chips and “the new Citroen" -- existing in the twentieth century to disenchant citizens against advertising. The theorist used everyday objects such as mushrooming brands of detergents to explain consumerism and how businesses are exploiting people through advertising. The essayist was a huge fan of Havana cigars and one could easily spot him with a stick. Barthes was vocal against the abuse of advertisement. Ironically, he was killed by a laundry truck which bore a banner advertising the laundry. He met with the fatal accident while he was returning from the lunch hosted by future President of France Francois Mitterrand. In the segment below we bring to you inspirational quotes by the famous French literary theorist Roland Barthes. Listed In: PhilosophersIntellectuals & Academics

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Roland Barthes

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QUOTES BY Roland Barthes

I am interested in language because it wounds or seduces me.

Each of us has his own rhythm of suffering.

Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.

I encounter millions of bodies in my life; of these millions, I may desire some hundreds; but of these hundreds, I love only one.

To whom could I put this question (with any hope of an answer)? Does being able to live without someone you loved mean you loved her less than you thought...?

What the Photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the Photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially.

Someone tells me: this kind of love is not viable. But how can you evaluate viability? Why is the viable a Good Thing? Why is it better to last than to burn?

...language is never innocent.

The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition... always new books, new programs, new films, news items, but always the same meaning.

The lover's fatal identity is precisely this: I am the one who waits.

…the book creates meaning, the meaning creates life.