Roland Barthes and Les Caracteres
Per Holly's original suggestion, let us talk about Barthes’ article on La Bruyère. Holly suggestes that "Barthes brings out in La Bruyère the binary nature of his rhetoric, discourse..." Does anyone have the urge to expand on this?
What other observations have we all made?
posted by Abbey von Gohren @ 11:47 AM
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1 Comments:
What struck me the most about Barthes’ article was his observation that La Bruyère has two main approaches to the world that would seem to be in conflict with one another, yet succeed in balancing one another out over the course of the work. Firstly, he has a precise, scientific approach to the work that is concerned with summing up Les Caracteres in terms of its affinity with the various human sciences (social, psychological, etc.):
“…il faut organiser, c’est-à-dire: découper et distribuer. La Bruyere ne manque pas à cette obligation; il découpe la société où il vit en grandes régions, entre laquelles il va répartir ses “caractères” (223).
And yet to break the world up into tiny little pieces is not La Bruyere’s final goal. Instead, as Barthes would point up, his second approach is to unify these pieces under a common heading:
“La Bruyère cherche un trait qui les définisse toutes; ce trait existe; c’est une forme; et cette forme, c’est la cloture; La Bruyère s’occupe des mondes, du monde pour autant qu’ils sont fermés” (226).
It is at this point in the article that I began having a difficult time following Barthes. Apparently, this understanding of “cloture,” when applied to the social arena, becomes “imagination de la cloture,” which (with its aspects of both the “réel” and “poétique”) become “mondanité.” Maybe some of you can help me better understand this philosophical project of La Bruyere (as understood by Barthes).
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