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17 March 20157 October 2021

‘Barthes (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Jonathan Culler

‘Barthes (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Jonathan Culler is a guide book about Roland Barthes. Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980) was a french ‘écrivain’ (writer), literary critic, literary theorist, semiologist (semiotician) and structuralism thinker. He made vast influences to humanities, social science, sociology, literary study, literary critic, philosophy and social thought.

In this small book, Culler summarises Barthes’s thoughts and pick out their essences.

Culler divided Barthes and his works into many various periods and aspects such as a Literary Historian, Mythologist, Semiologist, Hedonist and Writer. He don’t describe Barthes’s career as 4 periods usually mentioned (literary critic – semiologist or social mythologist – text theorist – romanesque author). And he describes clearly in each chapters but not surely chronologically.

A feature of this book is philosophical analysis of Barthes’s ‘pleasure’, in the French tradition, from Descartes to structuralism. The Cartesian consciousness to mind and subject is contrary to Barthes’s pleasure and emphasises of social codes and cultural skills. But ‘The notion of the body permits Barthes to avoid the problem of the subject: appealing to “the given that separates my body from other bodies and appropriates suffering or pleasure to it“, he emphasizes that he is not talking about subjectivity.’ Then Culler explains that ‘replacement of “mind” by “body” accords with Barthes’s emphasis on the materiality of the signifier as a source of pleasure. When listening to singing he prefers the corporeal “grain of voice” to expressiveness, meaning, or articulation’.

In this book Culler describes Barthes as a fixed figure or an intentionally thinker. Barthes wrote the society as the myth, in the same way Barthes and his works are myth constructed and consumed by people, society and Barthes himself.

This Culler’s introduction to Barthes, one of few english commentary book about Roland Barthes for beginners.

Barthes (A Very Short Introduction)
Jonathan Culler
Oxford University Press, Oxford, May 16 2002
152pp $11.95
ISBN: 978-0-19-280159-3
Contents:
Preface to This Edition
List of Illustrations
1. Man of Parts
2. Literary Historian
3. Mythologist
4. Critic
5. Polemicist
6. Semiologist
7. Structuralist
8. Hedonist
9. Writer
10. Man of Letters
11. Barthes after Barthes
Notes and References
Further Reading
Index

‘Roland Barthes (Routledge Critical Thinkers)’ by Graham Allen, Routledge

“Roland Barthes (Routledge Critical Thinkers)” by Graham Allen is an one of few english guide book about Roland Barthes. Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980) was a french ‘écrivain’ (writer), literary critic, literary theorist, semiologist (semiotician) and structuralism thinker. He made bold influences to humanities, social science, sociology, literary study, literary critic, philosophy and social thought.

This book is a introduction to Roland Barthes and his works. The chapters in this book, also register a certain chronology, and Barthes’s career is divided by four periods, moving from Barthes’ early phase of thought in Chapter 1 and 2, through his work on semiology and structuralism in Chapter 3 and 4, onto his poststructuralism phase in Chapter 5 and 6, and finally onto a set of issues emerging from his later writings (Barthes’ interest and writing about theoretical approaches to texts, music, photography and movie) from Chapter 7 to 9.

Allen traces Barthes’s transition of thought and life along with backgrounds from Marxism, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson to post-structuralism, Jaques Derrida, Mikhail Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva and so on. And Allen explains semiological terms and philosophical term by difference between Barthes’s and traditional means or other thinkers’. Also Graham Allen is a lecturer of text theory, so he describe Barthes as a literature critic and text theorist (the ‘texts’ includes language, literature, bourgeois society, music, photography and Roland Barthes himself) rather than an écrivain, structuralism philosopher, semiologist and sociologist.

The feature of this books is a concentrate on commentaries on Barthes’s text theory and literary analysis such as narrative analysis, zero degree writing, ‘myth’, intertextuality, neutral writing, hedonism, stadium/punctum and pheno-text/geno-text.

Another feature is a commentary on “Camera Lucida” of Barthes’s later life (Chapter 8 and 9), in which Barthes writing about music, photography and him life. Allen mentions Barthes’s last investigation reached the concept of ‘impossible’ practise of text. And Allen explains that ‘In “Camera Lucida” Barthes mixes theoretical writing with intense mourning for his mother in oder to present a text which exemplifies what is unrepeatable in his later writing. Barthes’s “Camera Lucida”, in pursuing an ‘impossible’ of practice of writing attempts to resist and defy the violence of language, which would turn his own mother into an archetype of the Mother. In performing such a personal act of writing, “Camera Lucida” offers to its readers many illuminating, if not immediately usable, insight into the nature of photography and representation generally’. Then Allen’s conclusion for Barthes’s activity is this. ’Writing for Barthes, is a meaning of perhaps, a meaning or perhaps, a disturbance of meaning rather than a production of meaning.’

This book is a basic, usual and total introduction to Roland Barthes and his theory, so it is the most useful book for beginners want to know about Roland Barthes especially his literally theory and text analysis.

Roland Barthes (Routledge Critical Thinkers)
Graham Allen
Routledge, Oxon, October 1 2003
192pp $24.95
ISBN: 0-415-26362-X
Contents:
Why Barthes?
Key Ideas
1. Writing and Literature
2. Critical Distance
3. Semiology
4. Structuralism
5. The Death of the Author
6. Texuality
7. Neutral Writing: Pleasure, Violence and the Novelistic
8. Music and Photography
9. Camera Lucida: the Impossible Text
After Barthes
Further Reading

18 January 201524 August 2023

Timeline of Miles Davis

1926 – May 26 Miles Dewey Davis Ⅲ was born in Alton, Illinois, to an African American affluent family. His father was a dentist. His mother was a music lover.

1935 – Got first his trumpet sent by father’s friend.

1939 – His father was present a new trumpet to Miles.

1943 – Began playing professionally at the Elks Club.

1944 – The Billy Eckstine Band visited St. Louis. The members of the band included Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Moved to New York City to study music at the Juilliard School. Got acquainted with Charlie Parker.

1945 – Participated the Charlie Parker Quintet as replacement of Dizzy Gillespie.

‘First Miles’, First Recording on a member of Herbie Fields Sextet.

1947 – First leader recording.

1948 – Miles Davis Nonet, includes J. J. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans, performed at the Royal Roost. (Cool Jazz)

1949 – ‘Birth of the Cool’

First european tour with Tadd Dameron.

1950 – Played together with Art Blakey, witch led Hard Bop style.

1951 – ‘Dig’ with Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey.

1953 – Returned to St. Louis to recover from drug intoxication.

1954 – Came back to New York Jazz scene.

‘Walkin’’ A Peak of Hard Bop style.

‘Bags’ Groove’ with Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson.

1955 – Formed ‘visionary quintet’ with Sonny Rollins, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.

Formed ‘first great quintet’ added John Coltrane.

1956 – ‘Marathon Session’ Recording of the ‘Hard Bop bible’: ‘Cookin’, ‘Relaxin’, ‘Workin’ and ‘Steamin’.

Major debut by ‘Round About Midnight’, Columbia Records.

1957 – Discharged John Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones, because of their drug intoxication and the limit of quintet Jazz style.

‘Miles Ahead’ with Gil Evans Orchestra.

1958 – Adopted Modal Jazz, and released ‘Milestones’.

Bill Evans joined Miles’s Sextet.

Cannonball Adderley ‘Somethin’ Else’ Virtually leader album of Miles.

1959 – ‘Kind of Blue’ It was the proclamation and completion of Modal Jazz.

1960 – Miles Davis (with Gil Evans) ’Sketches of Spain’

1964 – Formed the ‘second great quintet’, the members of which are Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.

1965 – ‘E.S.P.’ A sprout of New Mainstream.

1967 – ‘Miles Smiles’ A masterpiece of New Mainstream.

1968 – Adopted electronic sounds and rhythm of Rock music on his album ‘Miles in the Sky’. In this album Miles made Herbie Hancock play a electronic piano, George Benson play a electric guitar.

1969 – ‘In a Silent Way’ The title track was composed by Joe Zawinul.

1970 – ‘Bitches Brew’, Adopted Rock and Electronic sound earnestly.

1972 – ‘On the Corner’ Adopted Funk sound and folk instruments.

1975 – Stopped his activity.

1981 – Came back music scene. Collaborated with Marcus Miller, Bill Evans (saxophonist) and heavy guitar sound of Mike Stern, and released a live album ‘We Want Miles’.

1985 – ‘Your Under Arrest’ Adopted Pop arrangement and features two pop songs: ‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper and ‘Human Nature’ by Michael Jackson.

1986 – Miles Davis ‘Tutu’ produced by Marcus Miller and Tommy LiPuma. This album featured Marcus Miller as producer and multi-player. It was like duet of Miles and Miller.

1991 – Died on September 28 by the combined effect of a pneumonia and stroke.

1992 – ‘Doo-Bop’ featured Hip Hop and rap.