The Rustle of Language - by Roland Barthes (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Rustle of Language is a collection of forty-five essays, written between 1967 and 1980, on language, literature, and teaching--the pleasure of the text--in an authoritative translation by Richard Howard.

From the Back Cover

In the 'The Rustle of Language' almost all the essays in this collection deal with language and with literary writing, or, better still, with the pleasure owed to the text.

Review Quotes

"In "The Rustle of Language, the typically Barthesian texture of the writing makes itself felt. That texture--delightful to many of us--is composed of the mutual jostling of many (often mutually incompatible) registers of discourse. Linguistics, literature, philosophy, . . . history, semantics, Marxism--these are only the commonest of the many categories that organize Barthes' thinking. . . . In all of these essays, the briskness and liveliness of Barthes's style makes the work interesting."--Helen Vendler, "New York Review of Books

About the Author

Roland Barthes was born in 1915 and studied French literature and classics at the University of Paris. After teaching French at universities in Rumania and Egypt, he joined the Centre de Recherche Scientifique, where he devoted himself to research in sociology and lexicology. He was a professor at the Collège de France until his death in 1980.