Interpretation of 3 Passages from Barthes

"this unease in classification being precisely the point from which it is possible to diagnose a certain mutation"(Barthes 155):
-Part of the introduction of the essay, this passage is an opening to why Text became prominent. With the breaking down of an old discipline a mutation arouse leading way for a new way of deciphering work from text.

"the Text is experienced only in an activity of production"(Barthes 157):
-Text is not the actual work but rather part of what makes up the work and is depicted as the work is processed. It is the writing that went into producing the work but not the work as a whole. Seen in the work it loses its identity and becomes part of the whole.

"the metaphor of the Text separates from that of the work: the latter refers to the image of an organism which grows by vital expansion, by development'"(Barthes 161):
-By taking pieces of the work you break apart the Text. Solely by itself the meaning of the Text is altered and the point the author was trying to get across can be lost. By making the Text longer the message of the author is brought about again, but without the whole network a meaning is left up to discussion.

Works Cited:

Barthes, Roland. "From Work to Text." Image Music Text. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1977.
161-61.

Back to Interpretive Project