On Racine [Paperback]

Roland Barthes (Author), Richard Howard (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 1992

On Racine is a brilliant, personal view of theatre in which Barthes discusses all the major tragedies of Racine as well as the range of critical views of his work.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

From the Inside Flap

"Figures among the very greatest works of criticism ever devoted to Racine. Its artful combination of structural and psychoanalytic perspectives makes the text of Racinian drama current for students and scholars generally in a way few academic studies can."--Christopher Braider, Harvard University

"An immensely stimulating and thoughtful book. The structuralist framework allows Barthes to achieve a fruitful and stimulating convergence of pioneering Freudian (Mauron) and Marxist (Goldman) studies of Racine, with a Brechtian twist of his own."--Lionel Gossman, Princeton University

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Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (February 11, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520078241
• ISBN-13: 978-0520078246
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Ripping Little Tome, January 8, 2008

By 

R. Williams "code slubber" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Racine (Paperback)

I love Barthes. This is by far my favorite of his books. It's one of those rare books that literally turns the world inside out. The subject, Racine, is almost incidental. The real subject is the patterns of tragedy, and how a small set of predicates as it were have become the backbone of western letters for thousands of years, and show no sign of losing their thrall. Blood, blackmail, the double, reversals. Barthes lays these out not so much as themes, as they are parts of a pattern language that is deeply rooted not only in humanity, but in our ability to understand ourselves. Philosophy, literature, anthropology, all disappear into this wonderful stew.

How on earth can this be out of print?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating the Darkness, April 29, 2010

By 

Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Racine (Paperback)

"On Racine" is a brief, fascinating tome by Roland Barthes on the philosophies underlying Jean Racine's tragedies. Barthes delves into symbols, mythology, and mysticism. He skillfully delves into Racine's underlying themes- from the exoticism of the East embodied in Berenice to the solar element in Phaedra. Jean Racine's neo-classical plays were very spare to the point of being Zen. They took place in the daylight hours, set in one place, no onstage sex or violence, with very few characters. Racine, unlike the Greeks, didn't have a chorus (till his final two plays set in ancient Israel) Roland Barthes unpacks the baggage of Racine's philosophy. A fascinating read.