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On Barthes on Proust

Baldwin, Thomas (2012) On Barthes on Proust. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 48 (3). pp. 274-287. ISSN 0015-8518. (doi:10.1093/fmls/cqs013) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:30092)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqs013

Abstract

For many, Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu represents the nec plus ultra of aesthetic power and complexity, embodying a vast range of analytical, compositional and expressive techniques. This article explores the ways that Proust's work is seen (and used) in a selection of essays by Roland Barthes. As Malcolm Bowie has observed, in spite of – or indeed because of – his multiform admiration for A la recherche, Barthes refused to be labelled as a ‘proustien’. He produced very few sustained, stand-alone textual analyses of Proust's novel. Although it may be tempting for some to view such critical reticence as symptomatic of an anxiety of influence, this article suggests that it is less the sign of hindrance or compunction within Barthes's critical practice than an indication of the ways in which Barthes understands the nature of ‘critique’ itself.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1093/fmls/cqs013
Uncontrolled keywords: Barthes, Roland; Proust, Marcel; critique; objects; classical vs. modern
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PQ Romance Literature > PQ1 French Literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages
Depositing User: Thomas Baldwin
Date Deposited: 13 Aug 2012 10:35 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:08 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/30092 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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