Influence
Roland Barthes' incisive criticism contributed to the
development of theoretical schools such as structuralism, semiotics,
existentialism, Marxism and post-structuralism. While his influence is mainly
found in these theoretical fields with which his work brought him into contact,
it is also felt in every field concerned with the representation of information
and models of communication, including computers, photography, music, and
literature. One consequence of Barthes' breadth of focus is that his legacy
includes no following of thinkers dedicated to modeling themselves after him.
The fact that Barthes’ work was ever adapting and refuting notions of stability
and constancy means there is no canon of thought within his theory to model
one's thoughts upon, and thus no "Barthesism".
While this means that his name and ideas lack the visibility of a Marx,
Einstein, or Freud, Barthes was after all opposed to the notion of adopting
inferred ideologies, regardless of their source. In this sense, after his work
giving rise to the notion of individualist thought and adaptability over
conformity, any thinker or theorist who takes an oppositional stance to
inferred meanings within culture can be thought to be following Barthes’
example. Indeed such an individual would have much to gain from the views of
Barthes, whose many works remain valuable sources of insight and tools for the
analysis of meaning in any given manmade representation.
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Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Amelia Noguera Rubio
norua@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press