S/Z

Author: Barthes
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: In this book, one of Balzac's less attention-grabbing short stories is cut by Roland Barthes into 561 basic linguistic units, which are then categorized into five code series and subjected to detailed analysis in 93 units. This approach can almost be considered the most scientifically rigorous research on literary works or texts that we can see, and it remains the only theoretical work of this kind that we encounter today. S/Z presents two Roland Barthes' unique distinctions in its content: one is the basic research material, and the other is the concluding aphorisms and maxims, with the tools of semiotics and structuralism used by him in between. It is well-known that this is a landmark theoretical work, both an evolution of Roland Barthes' literary thought and a milestone in the transition from structuralism to post-structuralism. This so-called landmark milestone represents Roland Barthes' shift from the past practice of simply applying semiotics and structuralist narratology, viewing literary works as complete objects, as relatively independent and holistic spiritual phenomena, to the deconstructive concept of seeing literary works as texts, as dynamic configurations of texts, which are more characterized by fragmentation, divergence, and playfulness. The text is not only a unique object of play but is also itself engaged in the activity of play. This famous shift in Roland Barthes' fundamental literary thought has been included in countless literary theory textbooks. Today, after reading this book, which many contemporary Chinese scholars consider to be belated and its intellectual value diminished, we should recognize that thought, or as Roland Barthes himself put it, the writability of thought, requires technique.