The Semiotic Challenge

by Roland Barthes

Book Overview

Most of these essays were written between 1963 and 1973 and constitute either the elements of the semiotic discipline or the analysis of texts--ranging from the Bible to advertising--in order to determine the site of possible meanings in narratives. Intent on discovering signification's importance in art as well as life, Barthes sets up a rigorous system and puts it to work.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809085291
• ISBN13: 9780809085293
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Hill & Wang
• Length: 293 Pages

Customer Reviews

If you've managed to stumble across this review, then you'll likely enjoy the book

I read this after studying Barthe's earlier Elements of Semiology, which serves as a comprehensive, if dry, primer to the methods of structural and textual analysis put into practice in the Semiotic Challenge. Parts of this book are entirely theoretical, concerned with polishing Barthe's meticulous system of interpretation, but the sections on Poe and Jacob's encounter with the angel, in particular, are masterful illustrations of Barthe's catch-all method in practice. I was delighted to discover that oftentimes Barthes is actually quite funny and readable, unlike some of the other big names in French Theory, like Lacan and Derrida, who I find mostly impenetrable. I'd recommend this book particularly to those interested in engaging with some of Barthe's shorter structuralist critiques, before taking up a much longer work like S/Z.