Roland Barthes wrote literary theory, semiotics and cultural criticism about signs, texts, photography and the way ordinary objects acquire cultural meaning. Mythologies collects short essays on subjects such as wrestling, advertising, food and popular entertainment, showing how apparently natural social meanings are constructed through signs and ideology. S/Z performs an intensive reading of a Balzac story, while The Pleasure of the Text turns towards reading, desire and language. Camera Lucida is a more personal meditation on photography, memory and grief, organised around the distinction between studium and punctum. Barthes can be playful and accessible in short essays but highly technical elsewhere. Mythologies is the easiest entry for cultural criticism, while Camera Lucida suits readers interested in photography and a more personal critical voice. Read more Less
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