These essays, as selected and translated by Stephen Heath, are among the finest writings Barthes ever published on film and photography, and on the phenomena of sound and image. The classic pieces "Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative" and "The Death of the Author" are also included.
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Roland Barthes, the French critic and semiotician, was one of the most important critics and essayists of this century. His work continues to influence contemporary literary theory and cultural studies. Image-Music-Text collects Barthes's best writings on photography and the cinema, as well as fascinating articles on the relationship between images and sound. Two of Barthes's most important essays, "Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative" and "The Death of the Author" are also included in this fine anthology, an excellent introduction to his thought.
Review
"The dominant perspective of the thirteen essays collected in Image-Music-Text is semiology. Barthes extends the 'empire of signs' over film and photography, music criticism . . . and writing and reading as historically situated activities. Several essays are frankly didactic. They review and expand the domain of a certain terminology: interpretive codes, narrational systems, functions and indices, denotation and connotation. Yet those impatient with special terms will not mind too much, for where else do they get, under the same cover, Beethoven and 'Goldfinger,' the Bible and 'Double Bang à Bangkok'? . . . Barthes is technical without being heavy, and a professional without ceasing to be an amateur. His precise yet fluent prose treats personal insight and systematic concepts with equal courtesy."—Geoffrey Hartman, The New York Times Book Review
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A note: these essays were not only translated, but also selected by Heath.
A series of essays about the composition of images (aural, textual, and visual). A good collection for people interested in his thoughts on cinema and structuralist treatment of visual form. I'm a long way from my university infatuation with semiotics, but I still find this thought-provoking to return to and an ongoing pleasure to read.
A series of essays about the composition of images (aural, textual, and visual). A good collection for people interested in his thoughts on cinema and structuralist treatment of visual form. I'm a long way from my university infatuation with semiotics, but I still find this thought-provoking to return to and an ongoing pleasure to read.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is phenomenal. It analyzes aspects of human knowledge that one never thought possible. I recommend reading Foucault's "The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language" first. It will set the basis for what Barthes just dives into. Awesome analysis.
By Derek Carter
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Roland Barthes is a great writer, the various essays are concise, technical but without leaving the less technical reader lost. There is actually a lot to enjoy and I find as an artist Barthes insights inspire me to think about images in new ways while also giving insight into other arts like music and text. I would like to read more by Barthes in the future.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
classic textbook
i bought this book as part of classic textbooks in semiotics studies. thin book, but basic ideas of semiotics, linguistics, and literature critique theories, by barthes.
Published 7 months ago by b
5.0 out of 5 stars
increible
Un clasico, muy bien editado. Un precio muy bueno, para la calidad de su contenido. Para quien no conoce a Barthes, esta seria una buena introducción a su trabajo.
Published 20 months ago by A. Ponce De Calero
5.0 out of 5 stars
Art Practice & Text
Its excellent, i love it, but try interpreting this in the practical middle brow range of actually doing something with it. Read more
Published on October 3, 2010 by Brian Wyse
3.0 out of 5 stars
i--m--t
Heath selected well for this volume, the essays flow well into one another and it proves to be quick reading.
"Ethnocentric" in the other review is laughable. Read more
"Ethnocentric" in the other review is laughable. Read more
Published on May 31, 2008 by Alaric
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction to Barthes
More accessible than some of his others, this book nevertheless exhibits the same pyrotechnic, questing intelligence that makes everything from his hand a delight to read. Read more
Published on August 20, 2001
5.0 out of 5 stars
STRONGLY recommended for anyone with insomnia
Roland Barthes strikes me as an unreliable logician and a philosopher that one should be wary of. His premises are largely unsupported (or supported only weakly) and his... Read more
Published on October 29, 1997
Citations (learn more)
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- Elements of Semiology by Roland Barthes in Front Matter, page 1, and page 37
- Morphology of the Folktale (Publications of the American Folklore Society) by V. Propp on page 89, and page 138
- The Pleasure of the Text by Roland Barthes in Front Matter, and page 3
- The Grain of the Voice: Interviews 1962-1980 by Roland Barthes in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Writing Degree Zero by Roland Barthes in Front Matter, and page 168
See all 25 books this book cites
- Visual Culture by Richard Howells on 6 pages
- Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum by Terri Kapsalis on 4 pages
- Music, Sensation, and Sensuality (Critical and Cultural Musicology) by Linda Phyllis Austern on 4 pages
- Téacs Agus Comhthéacs: Gnéithe de Chritic na Gaeilge (Irish Language) by Máire Ní Annracháin on page 93, page 111, and Back Matter
- Approaches To Understanding Visual Culture by Malcolm Barnard on page 88, page 149, and Back Matter
See all 100 books citing this book
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