It won’t have escaped the notice of the most casual of visitors to the Ramblings that I’ve written quite a lot about Roland Barthes over the last few years…! I’ve read several of his major works, but I’m often attracted to more marginal writings; so when I stumbled across mention of today’s book I couldn’t resist. “Incidents”, translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan and published by Seagull books, draws together four essays and was originally first published shortly after Barthes’ untimely death. These are more personal works than might be usually expected from such a theorist, although of course he did write the extremely personal “Mourning Diary“. As the jacket of “Incidents” states, Barthes was wary of keeping a journal just with a view to having it published; however, these are diary-like experiments and they’re all very different and all quite fascinating.
The first section of the book is a fairly straightforward work called “The Light of the South West“. It’s something of a paean to an area of France from which the author came and loved very much and this comes through in his lyrical prose. The second piece, “Incidents“, give its title to the collection and this is very different to the first. In this, Barthes records his experiences on a visit to Morocco; the structure is fragmentary, much like “Mourning Diary”, and this is a very personal work as it reveals the author paying men and boys for sex.
Isn’t the great material of modern art today, of daily art, light? In ordinary theatres, the light originates at a distance, directed onto the stage. At Le Palace, the entire theatre is the stage; the light takes all the space there, inside of which it is alive and plays like one of the actors: an intelligent laser, with a complicated and refined mind, like an exhibitor of abstract figurines, it produces enigmatic shapes, with abrupt changes: circles, rectangles, ellipses, lines, ropes, galaxies, twists.
Next up is an essay entitled “At Le Palace Tonight…” in which Barthes gives his impression of a then-fashionable theatre-house in Pars; it’s a remarkably evocative piece, capturing Parisians out and about and enjoying themselves, thought interestingly Barthes comes across as very much an observer rather than a participant. Finally, there’s “Evenings in Paris“, a series of journal entries recording Barthes’ experiences as an older gay man in Paris; again, there’s very much a sense of him feeling like an outsider, and more often than not he ends up at home alone, listening to the radio.
“Incidents” is a fascinating book, and it was published posthumously by Barthes’ literary executor; part of me wonders what the author would have thought about that? As far as I’m aware he kept his private side to himself during his lifetime, and “Mourning Diary”” was also published long after his death. I suppose you could argue that if an author writes *anything* he’s expecting it to be published at some point; and if we argued with that we wouldn’t have Kafka!
However, I found this a fascinating and atmospheric read, and one which shone a new personal light on Roland Barthes. In many ways, he seems to have been a solitary, melancholy man, possibly because he apparently never publicy acknowledged his homosexuality during his lifetime. His more complex works are fascinating, often difficult though always rewarding; however, these fragments of his personal writings are beautiful and haunting, ranging from his romantic attractions to his love of the writings of Chateaubriand.
“Incidents” is published by Seagull Books, and they’ve accompanied this edition with photographs by Bishan Samaddar. They’re fine photographs in their own right, but I have to be honest and say that for me, they didn’t really sit that comfortably with the text; and in fact at times they seemed to be at odds with it so that I was pretty much ignoring them by the end of the book. That aside, however, I found this a thought-provoking read; a glimpse at the man behind the theories; and I’m happy to recall that I have another five volumes of Barthes translations from Seagull lurking on the shelves! Maybe they can be a summer project… ;D
May 06, 2022 @ 07:36:12
I really like this book. An interesting assortment of pieces, but I was especially touched by the diary excerpts at the end where he is bemoaning growing old, knowing they were written not long before his own untimely death.
May 06, 2022 @ 10:28:26
Me too – there are some lovely pieces, and I agree – there’s a poignancy to the writing and an underlying melancholy. Such a great writer, whatever his subject I feel.
May 06, 2022 @ 12:06:52
It’s always so interesting to get a glimpse of the personal like that, isn’t it? And for the author’s part, it takes some courage to put oneself ‘out there.’ That’s an interesting idea to put those more personal stories in with the other essays, too.
May 06, 2022 @ 14:18:21
It is – very nice to see the man behind the theorist, and it works well mixing the personal with the more general writings.
May 06, 2022 @ 12:08:29
I can see why this book resonated with you, Karen, especially given your fondness for the author’s work…but it’s a pity about the mismatch between the photos and text, especially in such a poignant collection of essays.
May 06, 2022 @ 14:17:39
The text is certainly lovely – very evocative and moving in places, and I’m glad I got to read it. The photos are good in their own right, but for me personally didn’t enhance the writing, so I actually ended up not really paying them attention… Anyway, I have several other text only collections of Barthes from Seagul so I shall look forward to them! 😀
May 06, 2022 @ 16:13:01
For another sideways look at Barthes, try Laurent Binet’s The 7th Function of Language, which re-imagines Barthes’s death as a murder with a no-nonsense policeman investigating…
May 06, 2022 @ 17:22:44
Funnily enough, I have considered the book as I loved Binet’s HHhH. However, I had a flick through and came across a really badly written sex scene which kind of put me off….
May 06, 2022 @ 19:13:30
I think I would be on the ‘if a writer writes something then it can be published’ side of the argument – look how much you have enjoyed reading this. I also don’t understand why novels writers disown aren’t published after their death!
May 06, 2022 @ 20:29:17
Yes, exactly – if a writer really *didn’t* want something published they would do a Gogol. If they leave it behind it’s fair game!!
May 06, 2022 @ 20:47:03
I know how much you love Barthes so I understand how much you must have enjoyed this more personal glimpse of him. These pieces sound very poignant.
May 07, 2022 @ 12:30:20
They are – that glimpse of what he was like behind the public image was fascinating.
May 07, 2022 @ 01:27:40
How lovely that these pieces of Barthes weren’t destroyed and were gathered together in this little volume. ‘The Light of the South West’ sounds especially intriguing to me.
May 07, 2022 @ 12:29:46
Yes, I’m very glad these pieces survived and were published. They certainly give a lovely personal insight into the private Barthes.
May 08, 2022 @ 10:28:18
These sound beautiful and moving pieces. I’m so tempted to buy it, even though I’m trying not to buy too many books at the moment 🙂 I think you’re right, if he left them behind he probably had a good idea they’d be published, so it doesn’t feel intrusive to read them.
May 08, 2022 @ 14:13:42
LOL, I know – there are so many tempting books out there. This is a lovely edition, and as you say he must have known any writing he’d saved would be published posthumously!
May 08, 2022 @ 16:51:14
Wonderful review, Kaggsy 😊 I’ve wanted to read Barthes for a long time. Have two of his books on my shelf, where they have been lying for a while. Need to get them out and get started. I didn’t know that Barthes was gay. This is fascinating! Thanks for sharing your thoughts 😊
May 08, 2022 @ 20:30:27
Thanks Vishy – hope you enjoy him when you get to him!
May 09, 2022 @ 09:11:26
Thank you, Kaggsy 😊
May 09, 2022 @ 15:19:27
😊
May 09, 2022 @ 23:13:05
I have mixed feelings on publishing works after the author died. Though you make a good point re Kafka. Then there is Harper Lee who left her book behind and that was published, supposedly against her wishes but who ever really knows. The Morocco setting sounds interesting. I enjoy looking at the books Seagull Press publishes.
May 10, 2022 @ 14:47:03
It *is* a potentially difficult issue, but there’s always the argument that unless you’ve done a Gogol, you must expect anything you leave behind ot be published. I know it’s sensitive for some people, but I would have hated to miss Kafka’s books!!