Is not the most erotic part of the body wherever the clothing affords a glimpse?
Roland BarthesRead
Literature is that which he can not read without pain, without choking on truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Literature can expose harsh truths that may cause discomfort or challenge our perceptions.
In this quote by Roland Barthes, he emphasizes that literature often contains profound truths that can be difficult for individuals to confront. The act of engaging with such literature may evoke a visceral reaction, as it forces readers to grapple with realities that can be painful or unsettling, ultimately highlighting the powerful role of literature in shaping human experience and understanding.
Themes
LiteratureTruthPainReadingUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion, one might introduce this quote to emphasize the challenging nature of literature.
More from Roland Barthes
All quotes βIf I acknowledge my dependency, I do so because for me it is a means of signifying my demand: in the realm of love, futility is not a "weakness" or an "absurdity": it is a strong sign: the more futile, the more it signifies and the more it asserts itself as strength.)
Roland BarthesRead
The gesture of the amorous embrace seems to fulfill, for a time, the subject's dream of total union with the loved being: The longing for consummation with the other.
Roland BarthesRead
The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.
Roland BarthesRead
I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.
Roland BarthesRead
All those young photographers who are at work in the world, determined upon the capture of actuality, do not know that they are agents of Death.
Roland BarthesRead
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People ask me why I write strong women, and I say, 'Well, I don't like stupid ones.' Who would want to read about weak and whiny women? Are they people who assume women are weak and whiny? If so, why do they think that?
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Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers.
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People in my novels always have terrible problems. If they are not terrible, I make them more terrible.
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A bookβ¦ itβs a world all on its own too. A world made of words, where you live for a while.
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It infuriates me that the work of white American writers can be universal and lay claim to classic texts, while black and female authors are ghetto-ized as 'other.'
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