Barthes (A Very Short Introduction)

Description:
This acclaimed short study, originally published in 1983, and now thoroughly updated, elucidates the varied theoretical contributions of Roland Barthes (1915-80), the 'incomparable enlivener of the literary mind', whose lifelong fascination was with the way people make their world intelligible. He has a multi-faceted claim to fame: to some he is the structuralist who outlined a 'science of literature', and the most prominent promoter of semiology; and to others, he stands not for science but pleasure, espousing a theory of literature which gives the reader a creative role. This book describes the many projects, which Barthes explored and which helped to change the way we think about a range of cultural phenomena - from literature, fashion, wrestling, and advertising, to notions of the self, of history, and of nature.

Table of Contents:
Preface; 1. Man of parts; 2. Literary Historian; 3. Mythologist; 4. Critic; 5. Polemicist; 6. Semiologist; 7. Structuralist; 8. Hedonist; 9. Writer; 10. Man of Letters; 11. Barthes after Barthes; Bibliography