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
Similar quotes
Don Quixote β I read that every year, as some do the Bible.
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Iβve always believed that as an author, I do 50% of the work of storytelling, and the reader does the other 50%. Thereβs no way I can control the story you tell yourself from my book. Your own experiences, preferences, prejudices, mood at the moment, current events in your life, needs and wants influence how you read my every word.
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Novelists, it seems to me, are the very last people who should be asked to comment on the news of the day, and sooner or later, when they have been pilloried for their views, most of them recognise this.
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Race is the true protagonist of the American novel. Our most popular classic fictions have known this, from 'Moby Dick' to 'Beloved;' all these books take on race or talk it out, often in other forms; they are less 'horror stories for boys' than ghost stories from a haunted conscience.
Kevin YoungRead
A report of a most alarming nature reached me two days ago.
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What I am going to write is the last of what I have to say. I will say that literature is the only consciousness we possess and that its role as consciousness must inform us of our ability to comprehend the hideous danger of nuclear power.
John CheeverRead