In:
Études françaises, Consortium Erudit, Vol. 45, No. 3 ( 2010-01-12), p. 129-150
Abstract:
It was during the unfortunate circumstance of his mother’s terminal illness that Roland Barthes sought to write as a “diarist,” in Urt in 1977 . This brief attempt at keeping a daily journal quickly became an important practice of reflection: “Je n’ai jamais tenu de journal — ou plutôt je n’ai jamais su si je devais en tenir un.” (“I had never kept a diary — or rather, I never realized that I should …”), he observed in 1979 , at the beginning of his paper aptly entitled “Délibération,” published in the literary journal Tel Quel . Questions come to mind about the practice of the diarist: what justifies these elliptical repetitions, what of its literary value, and its “publishability.” With few arguments justifying the practice, the debate points to a problematic kind of literature. This paper identifies the contingencies of daily personal writing in order to highlight its importance as key in understanding the last work of Barthes. Digressive, multi-faceted and experimental, the writing style of the Diary fits the flitting nature of this observer of daily life. It offers the advantages of a cumulative notatio , ideally free of any narcissism that would be incompatible with authentic subjectivity.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1492-1405
,
0014-2085
Language:
French
Publisher:
Consortium Erudit
Publication Date:
2010
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2140574-8
SSG:
7,30
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