"Roland Barthes" by Roland Barthes

Barthes tends to define himself over and over again in relation to his work, sometimes in subtle ways and sometimes in more overt ways. From the pictures in the beginning, he often remarks about who had a grasp of language and who did not and he is aware of his reading and what was going on in the literary world when he was growing up. Barthes is also very aware of the ideas of Freud and Lacan - the id, the mirror stage, etc. Then he writes, "Where is your authentic body? You are the only one who can never see yourself except as an image; you never see your eyes unless they are dulled by the gaze they rest upon the mirror or the lens." Barthes then comes back to the idea of the body, images, and defining oneself, perhaps finding one's imprint. He tends to see himself in relation to his work.

On the page with the three images of Barthes in his office, he states, "My body is free of its image-repertoire only when it establishes its work space." We get the idea that Barthes feels comfortable in his study. Later, Barthes describes the Ship Argo and introduces the ideas of substitution (replacing one part at a time) and nomination (name that is not linked to the stability of parts). He calls his two work spaces - one in Paris and one in the country - his Argo. The offices are identical in structure and this is what constitutes the identity of the area.

Towards the end of the passage we read (page 60-61), Barthes introduces the idea of the plural body. He states that he has a plural bodies, some public bodies (literary, written), he has two local bodies: a Parisian body and a country body. I think this is interesting that he mentions specifically these two bodies. They are like his work spaces - structurally they are the same. However, he feels differently in Paris (alert, tired) than he does in the country (rested, heavy). Is he defining himself in relation to the work he accomplishes in each place? Does each place leave a different sort of imprint on him? And consequently does this affect his identity?