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امپراتوری نشانهها
With this book, Barthes offers a broad-ranging meditation on the culture, society, art, literature, language, and iconography--in short, both the sign-oriented realities and fantasies--of Japan itself.
171 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Roland Barthes
344 books2,760 followersRoland Barthes of France applied semiology, the study of signs and symbols, to literary and social criticism.
Ideas of Roland Gérard Barthes, a theorist, philosopher, and linguist, explored a diverse range of fields. He influenced the development of schools of theory, including design, anthropology, and poststructuralism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_...
Ideas of Roland Gérard Barthes, a theorist, philosopher, and linguist, explored a diverse range of fields. He influenced the development of schools of theory, including design, anthropology, and poststructuralism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
May 11, 2017
به دوستانی که قصد خواندن این کتاب را دارند، پیشنهاد میکنم که قبل از مطالعه کتاب، فیلمِ "داستان توکیو" به کارگردانی یاسوجیرو اوزو را هم تماشا کنند. "داستان توکیو" شاهکارِ سینمای ژاپن با بازی خیرهکننده چیشو ریو و ستسوکو هارا، روایت سفر پدر و مادر سالخوردهی ژاپنی به توکیو برای دیدار فرزندانشان است.
در "داستان توکیو" مخاطب با نشانههای ژاپنی مواجه میشود. ایستگاه راهآهن، خیابانها، جعبهها، غذاها، چوبکهای غذاخوری و بازیگران تئاتر که به تعبیر رولان بارت، معنا را فراری میدهند و آنرا مدام به تاخیر میاندازند. حتی همانگونه که یاسوجیرو اوزو در سکانس پایانی "داستان توکیو" به تصویر کشیده است، مرگ نیز، آنجا از معنا تهی میشود.
همانگونه که "داستان توکیو" را نمیتوان فیلمی درباره ژاپن دانست، "امپراتوری نشانهها" نیز کتابی درباره ژاپن نیست. رولان بارت در این اثر، به شیوهای همانند هایکوی ژاپنی، چنان فشاری به تار و پود زبان وارد کرده است که متن، حالتی شعرگونه و ناآشنا به خود گرفته است. چند واژه اینجا، یک عکس آنجا، یک لحظه متن، لحظهای دیگر شعر، و رولان بارت اینگونه متافیزیک حضور معنا را در امپراتوری نشانهها انکار کرده است.
در "داستان توکیو" مخاطب با نشانههای ژاپنی مواجه میشود. ایستگاه راهآهن، خیابانها، جعبهها، غذاها، چوبکهای غذاخوری و بازیگران تئاتر که به تعبیر رولان بارت، معنا را فراری میدهند و آنرا مدام به تاخیر میاندازند. حتی همانگونه که یاسوجیرو اوزو در سکانس پایانی "داستان توکیو" به تصویر کشیده است، مرگ نیز، آنجا از معنا تهی میشود.
همانگونه که "داستان توکیو" را نمیتوان فیلمی درباره ژاپن دانست، "امپراتوری نشانهها" نیز کتابی درباره ژاپن نیست. رولان بارت در این اثر، به شیوهای همانند هایکوی ژاپنی، چنان فشاری به تار و پود زبان وارد کرده است که متن، حالتی شعرگونه و ناآشنا به خود گرفته است. چند واژه اینجا، یک عکس آنجا، یک لحظه متن، لحظهای دیگر شعر، و رولان بارت اینگونه متافیزیک حضور معنا را در امپراتوری نشانهها انکار کرده است.
September 19, 2011
Someone here on Good Reads recommended I read this, can't remember who now to thank them...
My daughter is doing her honours thesis on cute Japanese animal advertisements for eating meat and how these seem to skate incredibly close to what we in the West might consider to be food taboos. As part of that, I recommended she might read this book – which was brave of me, given I hadn’t actually read the damn thing. She returned the favour today by ‘requiring’ me to read this so we could talk about it. It has been an interesting day.
Barthes repeatedly says that the country he is discussing is a kind of oddly unreal place – nothing at all like the actual country by the name of Japan. His point is that for someone who speaks virtually none of the language what he has to say about the place is necessarily going to be quite limited. But if only I could be so limited. This is an utterly fascinating book.
It starts with a long description of Japanese food. Western food generally comes to the table in a way that makes it hard to tell what the food is composed of. Even when the meat is raw – like steak tar-tare – it is so heavily seasoned that it is hard to know it is raw. Anyway, in French and Italian raw food is called ‘crude’ – with the same sexual references as this word has in English. But this isn’t true of Japanese food, which is often raw and announces itself as being from the animal or the vegetable it is actually from. There is a kind of essentialism to Japanese food – but one that is not exactly ‘natural’. I think his point here is that in presenting the essence of these various foods the Japanese need to ‘perfect’ them, in a sense. So that, like a Japanese garden, it is ‘nature’, but not quite ‘natural’, it is highly ordered nature – as nature would have been if God hadn’t been rushing to finish in seven days.
He makes much the same point about haiku. When I read this poem with Western eyes:
It is evening, in autumn,
All I can think of
Is my parents.
The network of connections – ‘autumn years’, ‘the evening of one’s life’ – registers with me in particular ways and so I see this as a poem about someone with aging parents. I can even add words that are not completely justified, such as ‘concern’ and ‘nursing-home’. But his point is that this is precisely the wrong way to read a haiku. Again, the point of haiku, like the point of Japanese food, is to capture the essence, rather than allude to a ‘deeper’ meaning. My problem was that the examples he gives of haiku that clearly don’t really ‘mean’ in our standard Western way, with below the surface irony, such as this one:
Already four o’clock . . .
I have got up nine times
To admire the moon.
Might well be, as he says, merely a bland statement of fact, or it could in fact have remarkable hidden significance to the Japanese that I’m completely unaware of. Judging poetry in translation is a fool’s errand at the best of times. It could just be that doing something nine times is highly significant to the Japanese, whereas eight times is quite ho-hum – he does make the point that haiku are to be read twice – as once might imply the importance of the poem is the shock you get from the unexpected the first time you hear it and three times might imply the meaning comes in repetition – twice being just enough to confirm the right level of blandness. Sort of bland, but not mind-numbingly boring.
The most interesting bits of this relate to Japanese theatre. Puppet theatres where the puppets have no strings and no attempt is made to hide the puppet masters – in fact, they, and the people providing the voices and music, unlike Western puppet shows, are essential and apparent parts of the performance. Or the male actors who play female roles in drama – as no women are allowed to perform – and are not at all like a Les Girls show, where it is hard to know if you are watching a woman or a man. Here no one would confuse the men acting these roles with real woman – they are a symbolic woman. The actor, even in disguise, is clearly male: essences, yet again, are what are essential.
And then a fascinating description of gift giving, where the gift is virtually completely unimportant, but how it is wrapped, how it is presented, is what matters.
This really is a fascinating journey to a wonderful Japan of signs - not really discovered from a dialogue, as much of our knowledge tends to be, but almost as someone might appraise a painting.
My daughter is doing her honours thesis on cute Japanese animal advertisements for eating meat and how these seem to skate incredibly close to what we in the West might consider to be food taboos. As part of that, I recommended she might read this book – which was brave of me, given I hadn’t actually read the damn thing. She returned the favour today by ‘requiring’ me to read this so we could talk about it. It has been an interesting day.
Barthes repeatedly says that the country he is discussing is a kind of oddly unreal place – nothing at all like the actual country by the name of Japan. His point is that for someone who speaks virtually none of the language what he has to say about the place is necessarily going to be quite limited. But if only I could be so limited. This is an utterly fascinating book.
It starts with a long description of Japanese food. Western food generally comes to the table in a way that makes it hard to tell what the food is composed of. Even when the meat is raw – like steak tar-tare – it is so heavily seasoned that it is hard to know it is raw. Anyway, in French and Italian raw food is called ‘crude’ – with the same sexual references as this word has in English. But this isn’t true of Japanese food, which is often raw and announces itself as being from the animal or the vegetable it is actually from. There is a kind of essentialism to Japanese food – but one that is not exactly ‘natural’. I think his point here is that in presenting the essence of these various foods the Japanese need to ‘perfect’ them, in a sense. So that, like a Japanese garden, it is ‘nature’, but not quite ‘natural’, it is highly ordered nature – as nature would have been if God hadn’t been rushing to finish in seven days.
He makes much the same point about haiku. When I read this poem with Western eyes:
It is evening, in autumn,
All I can think of
Is my parents.
The network of connections – ‘autumn years’, ‘the evening of one’s life’ – registers with me in particular ways and so I see this as a poem about someone with aging parents. I can even add words that are not completely justified, such as ‘concern’ and ‘nursing-home’. But his point is that this is precisely the wrong way to read a haiku. Again, the point of haiku, like the point of Japanese food, is to capture the essence, rather than allude to a ‘deeper’ meaning. My problem was that the examples he gives of haiku that clearly don’t really ‘mean’ in our standard Western way, with below the surface irony, such as this one:
Already four o’clock . . .
I have got up nine times
To admire the moon.
Might well be, as he says, merely a bland statement of fact, or it could in fact have remarkable hidden significance to the Japanese that I’m completely unaware of. Judging poetry in translation is a fool’s errand at the best of times. It could just be that doing something nine times is highly significant to the Japanese, whereas eight times is quite ho-hum – he does make the point that haiku are to be read twice – as once might imply the importance of the poem is the shock you get from the unexpected the first time you hear it and three times might imply the meaning comes in repetition – twice being just enough to confirm the right level of blandness. Sort of bland, but not mind-numbingly boring.
The most interesting bits of this relate to Japanese theatre. Puppet theatres where the puppets have no strings and no attempt is made to hide the puppet masters – in fact, they, and the people providing the voices and music, unlike Western puppet shows, are essential and apparent parts of the performance. Or the male actors who play female roles in drama – as no women are allowed to perform – and are not at all like a Les Girls show, where it is hard to know if you are watching a woman or a man. Here no one would confuse the men acting these roles with real woman – they are a symbolic woman. The actor, even in disguise, is clearly male: essences, yet again, are what are essential.
And then a fascinating description of gift giving, where the gift is virtually completely unimportant, but how it is wrapped, how it is presented, is what matters.
This really is a fascinating journey to a wonderful Japan of signs - not really discovered from a dialogue, as much of our knowledge tends to be, but almost as someone might appraise a painting.
Read
January 17, 2019Let's talk about Japan. How I found Tokyo to be a maze of no-smoking signs at first, everywhere in the street... but then when you walk into a crowded restaurant, suddenly it's OK to light up, even if some dude is practically ashing in your ramen.
It's been said a million times in a million ways but Japan is Bizarro Land. Everyone knows this. Even the Japanese I know seem to appreciate their Bizarro Land status.
I should add that I don't think it really matters that Barthes is objectively wrong about a lot of the shit that he says -- it was '60s French writing, and he just kinda spitballs it at points. You forgive him because the writing is so stunning, and it's best to think of it as allusive belles-lettres than anything empirical. And these lettres are pretty belles.
It's been said a million times in a million ways but Japan is Bizarro Land. Everyone knows this. Even the Japanese I know seem to appreciate their Bizarro Land status.
I should add that I don't think it really matters that Barthes is objectively wrong about a lot of the shit that he says -- it was '60s French writing, and he just kinda spitballs it at points. You forgive him because the writing is so stunning, and it's best to think of it as allusive belles-lettres than anything empirical. And these lettres are pretty belles.
July 5, 2019
Yeah...what to say about this. His writing is fun to read, and he's definitely engaging, but how much can you get from a book written by someone writing about a subject they know nothing about?
Case in point: the handwritten notes reproduced in the book with Japanese phrases and their French translations are sometimes completely wrong, or misunderstood entirely.
This whole clichéd idea of Oooh! Japan is this exotic place that the Westerner cannot grasp gets a bit old as well (I see it everywhere). It certainly won't be understood when it's being explained by someone who hasn't even taken the time and effort to understand it properly themselves...
Case in point: the handwritten notes reproduced in the book with Japanese phrases and their French translations are sometimes completely wrong, or misunderstood entirely.
This whole clichéd idea of Oooh! Japan is this exotic place that the Westerner cannot grasp gets a bit old as well (I see it everywhere). It certainly won't be understood when it's being explained by someone who hasn't even taken the time and effort to understand it properly themselves...
December 25, 2021
Lettura estremamente impegnativa ma altrettanto gratificante.
June 26, 2025
تعدادی از هایکوهای کتاب:
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نویسنده فرانسوی که از ژاپن نوشته است :)
نوشته پشت کتاب بیانگر همه چیز است و به نظر نیازی به توضیحات بیشتر نباشد.
صفحه اول کتاب هم مقدمه خوبی آورده شده است.
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ترجمه خیلی به حفظ کلمات و جملات شاعرانه کتاب پایبند بوده و به همین خاطر متن خیلی روان نیست. گرچه به نظرم تلاش شده که مطلب به خوبی منتقل بشه.
اینطور نوشته شده که انگار شما به یک کشور یا حتی یک مکان جدید برید و به یک موضوع یا نشانه دقت کنید و بیاید خیلی شاعرانه و گاها با مبالغه راجع به اون سوژه صحبت کنید و انگار با آوردن تصاویر و نوشته ها شما هم قراره درگیر اون احساسات و فکرهای نویسنده بشید. که البته من خیلی درگیر نشدم :دی
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شروع در جنگ ۱۲ روزه و پایان در آتش بس
تیرماه ۱۴۰۴
غروب است، پاییز
فقط
به پدر و مادرم میاندیشم.
باتلاق قدیمی
قورباغهای در آن میجهد
آه! صدای آب
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روح انسان کامل همچون یک آینه است. او هیچ چیز را در خود نمیگیرد، اما هیچ چیز را نیز طرد نمیکند. او میپذیرد اما حفظ نمیکند.
وقتی راه میروی، به راهرفتن بسنده کن، و زمانی که نشستهای، به نشستن قانع باش. اما بهویژه از راه خود منحرف نشو!
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نویسنده فرانسوی که از ژاپن نوشته است :)
نوشته پشت کتاب بیانگر همه چیز است و به نظر نیازی به توضیحات بیشتر نباشد.
صفحه اول کتاب هم مقدمه خوبی آورده شده است.
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ترجمه خیلی به حفظ کلمات و جملات شاعرانه کتاب پایبند بوده و به همین خاطر متن خیلی روان نیست. گرچه به نظرم تلاش شده که مطلب به خوبی منتقل بشه.
اینطور نوشته شده که انگار شما به یک کشور یا حتی یک مکان جدید برید و به یک موضوع یا نشانه دقت کنید و بیاید خیلی شاعرانه و گاها با مبالغه راجع به اون سوژه صحبت کنید و انگار با آوردن تصاویر و نوشته ها شما هم قراره درگیر اون احساسات و فکرهای نویسنده بشید. که البته من خیلی درگیر نشدم :دی
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شروع در جنگ ۱۲ روزه و پایان در آتش بس
تیرماه ۱۴۰۴
October 3, 2020
Verdiğim not “çeviri” ve bunu okuyucuya uygun bulan “yayınevi” içindir.
Roland Barthes bu denemesinde Japon kültürünü göstergeler üzerinden inceliyor. Yazı, yemek için kullanılan çubuklar, Japon mutfağı, paşenkolar, resim, kukla tiyatrosu, haiku, çekik gözler ve daha birçok farklı başlık yazarın merceği altında. Felsefi yaklaşıyor bu yabancısı olduğu kültüre.
Dili ağır diyemem çünkü o kadar berbat bir çeviri ile karşı karşıyayız ki, Türkçe olarak anlam kazanmayan cümlelerin kusurunu yazarın diline bağlamak haksızlık olur. Tahsin Yücel sanırım hayatının en kötü çevirisini yapmak için bu kitabı seçmiş. Seçtiği kelimelerden bazıları; sözcelem, bulgulanmak, düşüngüsel, sonasığınık, göndergesel, suyul, gerkemlilik (görkem değil!).
Başta belirttiğim gibi notum kitap içeriğine ve Barthes’in metnine değil, çeviriye dolayısıyla da yayınevinedir.
Bu konuda Utku’nun yorumu daha net fikir verecektir.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Roland Barthes bu denemesinde Japon kültürünü göstergeler üzerinden inceliyor. Yazı, yemek için kullanılan çubuklar, Japon mutfağı, paşenkolar, resim, kukla tiyatrosu, haiku, çekik gözler ve daha birçok farklı başlık yazarın merceği altında. Felsefi yaklaşıyor bu yabancısı olduğu kültüre.
Dili ağır diyemem çünkü o kadar berbat bir çeviri ile karşı karşıyayız ki, Türkçe olarak anlam kazanmayan cümlelerin kusurunu yazarın diline bağlamak haksızlık olur. Tahsin Yücel sanırım hayatının en kötü çevirisini yapmak için bu kitabı seçmiş. Seçtiği kelimelerden bazıları; sözcelem, bulgulanmak, düşüngüsel, sonasığınık, göndergesel, suyul, gerkemlilik (görkem değil!).
Başta belirttiğim gibi notum kitap içeriğine ve Barthes’in metnine değil, çeviriye dolayısıyla da yayınevinedir.
Bu konuda Utku’nun yorumu daha net fikir verecektir.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 28, 2021
While Barthes presents some intriguing ideas and makes occasional good points, the majority of the text seemed - to me, at least - to consist mostly of overconfident and orientalist rambling.
The idea of interpreting life and its various aspects as signs (e.g. text) to be read and interpreted is an elegant illustration of his "différance". Throughout the text this idea unfolds very nicely and numerous examples taken from real life work well as its illustration (e.g. a package as the signifiant with its contents as the signifié).
His introductory observations about language, too, remain valid: Each language dissects the world in its own way, and with each additional language we gradually discover our previous blind spots. The chapters on haiku are also apt and plausible, emphasizing how e.g. the haiku tends to be more about capturing a moment than open to forcible interpretation.
However, these occasional sprinkles of real insight aside, my grievances with the text are the following:
- Orientalism. While Barthes formulates a few exonerating remarks toward the beginning, it is the monolithic distinction between East and West in his thinking where orientalism begins. And to state beforehand that one has no orientalist intentions by far doesn't mean one's statements aren't actually orientalist. That's not how it works, unfortunately it's not quite that simple.
- Generalization. Some may say Barthes was a mere child of his time, but following his own tradition of "death of the author", I found the essentialist and generalizing way he writes about nation-states and cultures disappointing, not to say unsettling, not least because it formed the base for many of the points he makes (often making statements about "the Japanese" as if culture equalled nation-state equalled ethnicity).
- Flawed epistemology. Barthes acknowledges his observations to be from an outsider's perspective, a thought which at first I found intriguing. However, the self-assuredness (bordering on arrogance) with which he makes claims about cultures (plural!) he is observing exceed anything an outsider would be able to judge. And while some may argue that this outside perspective is needed for the insights he shares, 1. some of those insights are beyond his judgement and 2. that ignores the orientalist distortion leading to those statements.
- Accuracy. Some of his claims I cannot imagine ever to have been true, even in his time. As a translator with a degree in Japanese studies who has lived in Japan, I can assure you that Japanese food certainly doesn't end up on the table "untreated as nature made it", the zengakuren protests were certainly not "free of sentiment expressed", and sexuality in Japan is certainly not "to be found only in sex itself", thank you very much.
All in all, I could say that while some of Barthes' ideas presented here are certainly food for thought and will stick around the back of my head for another while, I was more than disappointed with his general stance as well as the arrogance with which he makes his statements.
The idea of interpreting life and its various aspects as signs (e.g. text) to be read and interpreted is an elegant illustration of his "différance". Throughout the text this idea unfolds very nicely and numerous examples taken from real life work well as its illustration (e.g. a package as the signifiant with its contents as the signifié).
His introductory observations about language, too, remain valid: Each language dissects the world in its own way, and with each additional language we gradually discover our previous blind spots. The chapters on haiku are also apt and plausible, emphasizing how e.g. the haiku tends to be more about capturing a moment than open to forcible interpretation.
However, these occasional sprinkles of real insight aside, my grievances with the text are the following:
- Orientalism. While Barthes formulates a few exonerating remarks toward the beginning, it is the monolithic distinction between East and West in his thinking where orientalism begins. And to state beforehand that one has no orientalist intentions by far doesn't mean one's statements aren't actually orientalist. That's not how it works, unfortunately it's not quite that simple.
- Generalization. Some may say Barthes was a mere child of his time, but following his own tradition of "death of the author", I found the essentialist and generalizing way he writes about nation-states and cultures disappointing, not to say unsettling, not least because it formed the base for many of the points he makes (often making statements about "the Japanese" as if culture equalled nation-state equalled ethnicity).
- Flawed epistemology. Barthes acknowledges his observations to be from an outsider's perspective, a thought which at first I found intriguing. However, the self-assuredness (bordering on arrogance) with which he makes claims about cultures (plural!) he is observing exceed anything an outsider would be able to judge. And while some may argue that this outside perspective is needed for the insights he shares, 1. some of those insights are beyond his judgement and 2. that ignores the orientalist distortion leading to those statements.
- Accuracy. Some of his claims I cannot imagine ever to have been true, even in his time. As a translator with a degree in Japanese studies who has lived in Japan, I can assure you that Japanese food certainly doesn't end up on the table "untreated as nature made it", the zengakuren protests were certainly not "free of sentiment expressed", and sexuality in Japan is certainly not "to be found only in sex itself", thank you very much.
All in all, I could say that while some of Barthes' ideas presented here are certainly food for thought and will stick around the back of my head for another while, I was more than disappointed with his general stance as well as the arrogance with which he makes his statements.
May 21, 2016
بارت در این کتاب به تحلیل برسی نشانه های مختلف اعم از غذا تا شورش های داخلی در کشور و فرهنگ ژاپن پرداخته. در مقدمه تاکید شده که ژاپنی که در این کتاب مورد بررسی قرار می گیرد ژاپنی خیالی و نامی است که صرفا او برای این نظام نشانه ای انتخاب کرده است و در ادامه هم نظراتش را بدون اینکه به آن جنبه علمی بدهد یا تلاش کند آن را توجیح کند بیان کرده است. در واقع اینها برداشت های شخصی رولان بارت هستند از دیدار او از ژاپن که خواندنشان خالی از لطف نیست. بارت به نظر من از معدود نویسنده هایی ست که می توانند نظر شخصی شان را در قالب یک نوشته علمی جوری به مخاطب منتقل کنند که لذت بخش باشد.
اگر کسی دنبال کتابی ست که از زاویه نشانه ها به موضوعی نگاه کند و زیاد هم در بند پذیرفتن نظرات نویسنده نباشد، مثل من، این کتاب بسیار انتخاب مناسبی ست.
نثرش هم نسبت به نوشته های دیگر بارت، مثل نقد و حقیقت و لذت متن، بسیار ساده تر است و بنابرین فهمش اسان.
اگر کسی دنبال کتابی ست که از زاویه نشانه ها به موضوعی نگاه کند و زیاد هم در بند پذیرفتن نظرات نویسنده نباشد، مثل من، این کتاب بسیار انتخاب مناسبی ست.
نثرش هم نسبت به نوشته های دیگر بارت، مثل نقد و حقیقت و لذت متن، بسیار ساده تر است و بنابرین فهمش اسان.
January 17, 2019
امپراطوری نشانه های رولان بارت به مثابه تفسیری ست از فرهنگ اشراقی خاصه ژاپن در مقابل فرهنگ غربی خاصه آمریکا و فرانسه. کتاب نثر خود را گاهی متمایل به داستان و گاهی نوشته های روزانه متمایل میکند ولی اینها همه در فرمی سیال و فرار رسخته شده اند. در نوشته به بحث هایی هستی شناسانه در مورد فرهنگ انسان های شرق و غرب بر میخوریم. بارت در مورد همه چیز نظر میدهد. از فرهنگ غذای ژاپنی و تقابلش با فرهنگ مصرفی غرب تا هایکو به عنوان نماد ادبی ذن و ژاپن. او به جزئیات توجه میکند و این جزئیات را بخشی از مبنای شناخت انسان ها قرار میدهد. مثلا در فرهنگ تغذیه ژاپنی در مورد نحوه غذا خوری با چوب و نحوه ی برخورد این ابزار با غذاها صحبت میکند. در بخشی دیگر از بازیگری تئاتر بونراکو و تفاوتش با بازیگری رئالیستی آمریکایی میگود.
در امپراطوری نشانه ها همه چیز گذرا، بازی گونه، تازه و سیال است، همچون ژاپن، همچون صورت بازیگر ژاپنی.
در امپراطوری نشانه ها همه چیز گذرا، بازی گونه، تازه و سیال است، همچون ژاپن، همچون صورت بازیگر ژاپنی.
May 10, 2016
کتاب بیشتر مقایسهایست بین شرق و غرب. و این تفاوتها اجازه میدهند ژاپن را بهتر بشناسیم. گرچه؛ از نظر من کتاب رولان بارت بیشتر شخصینویسیهای آدمیست که ژاپن را با احساسش تجربه کرده. پس شاید آنچه از ژاپن در ذهنمان داریم(به عنوان یک برند، یک فکت) کمی متفاوت باشد با آنچه که در این کتاب میخوانیم. نقطهی قوتش هم همین است البته. ژاپن را مگر میشود فهمید؛ اگر آن را به درستی احساس نکرد؟ دوستش دارم و مثل یک کتاب درسی خواندمش. نکتههای مترجم درست و بجاست. اما برای اینکه کاملا آنچه را میخوانید، درک کنید، بهتر است کلمات ناشناس یا توصیفاتی از یک شی که تصویری از آن نیست را سرچ کنید. و خیلی زود، ژاپن خودتان را بسازید.
Read
July 21, 2024thank god this man died before he could've watched anime bc i fear the monster we could've had on our hands
August 21, 2026
“العلامة هي كسر لا ينفتح البتّة إلا على وجه علامة أخرى.” — رولان بارت.
رولان بارت يقرأ الثقافة اليابانية وعلاماتها البارزة وما تشير له من دلالات في اللغة والسيميولوجيا، وفي اللحظة التي لا يعود فيها الدال مطابقًا لما نتوقعه من المدلول. بمعنى آخر، هو يبحث عن الطريقة التي ينتج بها الفرد المعنى حين يواجه ثقافة خارج حدود أطره الثقافية والمعرفية المألوفة. كيف نفكك ونركب صورة الآخر وننتج معنى جديداً بعيدًا عن هويتنا المعتادة، ومن ثم يتسع فهمنا للآخر ولذواتنا.
كمثل: الطعام، الفن/الرسم، محطات القطار، الأدب الياباني؛ كالهايكو. المصارعون، وغيرها من القراءات العامة التي تقع على عينه في الطريق أو مواد محسوسة كغلاف علب الطعام مثلًا. أي نظام العلامات. ويثير عددًا من الأسئلة من مثل:
ما الذي يجعل هذا السلوك يحمل معنى في ثقافة، بينما يحمل معنى مختلفًا في ثقافة أخرى؟… وما الوظيفة التي يؤديها حديث أو قولٌ ما داخل النظام الاجتماعي؟
فمثلًا: الانحناء، الصمت، طريقة تقديم الشيء، طريقة الرفض، الاعتذار، المجاملة، المسافة الجسدية…كلها ليست مجرد "تصرفات"، وإنما علامات اجتماعية. لكن العلامة لا تملك معناها بذاتها؛ معناها يأتي من النظام الثقافي الذي تُدرج فيه.
رولان بارت حقيقةً مدهش في رؤاه وحساسيته اللفظية والتقاطاته البصرية وما تنمّ عنها من دلالات تعكس ذهنيته الفكرية المرنة في تصوراتها عن الذات والآخر وإنتاج المعنى.
February 13, 2020
Well, that was embarrassing - it's absolutely evident that Roland Barthes knew nothing about Asia and Japan particularly. I had to roll my eyes so many times while I was reading it and, frankly, it made me doubt everything he had written before. Also, it is my pet peeve, when a foreigner (laowai, gwailo, farang, gaijin - take your pick) starts to heap praise on Asian culture, wisdom, language etc, and at the same time disparage his own. Especially when said person doesn't speak the language he's so in love with and didn't spend significant time in the country he's so fascinated with (in other words he was just a tourist.)
There were some interesting moments (I like a bit about theater with the audience in the dark and bright-lit scene, however I find the idea behind that a little far-fetched) but these bits were few and far between.
There were some interesting moments (I like a bit about theater with the audience in the dark and bright-lit scene, however I find the idea behind that a little far-fetched) but these bits were few and far between.
May 16, 2019
Barthes is a master of the style of mini-essay I'd clumsily call "Things that make you go 'hmm'".
Lots to think about as I compare, in my limited way, my experience of Japan in 2019 with his in the 60s.
The bundle of essays on haiku are excellent and required reading for anyone interested in the haiku itself. Though the haiku are translated from Japanese to French, then to my English...are the words I read really the same as what is meant by the haiku Barthes discusses? And since he doesn't speak Japanese, does he really know what he's talking about when he writes about them? Thankfully he's too clever a writer for those concerns to overtake the smoothness of his narrative, whatever it may be.
Lots to think about as I compare, in my limited way, my experience of Japan in 2019 with his in the 60s.
The bundle of essays on haiku are excellent and required reading for anyone interested in the haiku itself. Though the haiku are translated from Japanese to French, then to my English...are the words I read really the same as what is meant by the haiku Barthes discusses? And since he doesn't speak Japanese, does he really know what he's talking about when he writes about them? Thankfully he's too clever a writer for those concerns to overtake the smoothness of his narrative, whatever it may be.
April 8, 2017
معرفی کتاب "امپراتوری نشانه ها" ـ بهاره خیرخواه
نویسنده: رولان بارت ـ ترجمهی ناصر فکوهی
تهران: نشر نی، 1383
چاپ ششم، 1394
تعداد صفحات: 168
اگر علاقمند به نشانهشناسی در شرق دور باشید، طراحیِ جلد این کتاب، با المانهای ژاپنی تا حد قابل توجهی نظرتان را به خود جلب میکند. اما نکتهای که در همین ابتدا لازم به یادآوری میباشد، این است که بارت در امپراتوری نشانهها، از ژاپن تصویربرداری نکرده، بلکه حضورش در ژاپن او را در موقعیت نوشتن قرار داده است. در این کتاب، نه متن در پی تفسیر تصویرهاست، نه تصویرها در جستوجوی آراستن متن. بازیهای موجود در متن و تصویر و کشف چراییِ چینش تصویرها بدینگونه، از نکات جذاب و قابل توجه کتاب است. تاثیرپذیری نویسنده از فرهنگ متفاوت ژاپن در تمامِ ابعاد، ژرفبینی، قیاس و از همه مهمتر قدرت تحلیلِ فرهنگی بیگانه از غرب، بار دیگر دانش و قدرت بیان نویسنده را به خواننده گوشزد میکند. ظرافتی که در نگاه بارت به دنیای پیرامون وجود دارد، شورِ غیرقابل وصفی را برای ادامه دادن کتاب تا انتها به وجود میآورد. تنوع مباحث مطرح شده، آن هم در فصلهای کوتاه، دایرهی مخاطبانِ کتاب را افزایش میدهد.
متن کامل معرفی را در لینک زیر بخوانید:
http://anthropologyandculture.com/fa/...
نویسنده: رولان بارت ـ ترجمهی ناصر فکوهی
تهران: نشر نی، 1383
چاپ ششم، 1394
تعداد صفحات: 168
اگر علاقمند به نشانهشناسی در شرق دور باشید، طراحیِ جلد این کتاب، با المانهای ژاپنی تا حد قابل توجهی نظرتان را به خود جلب میکند. اما نکتهای که در همین ابتدا لازم به یادآوری میباشد، این است که بارت در امپراتوری نشانهها، از ژاپن تصویربرداری نکرده، بلکه حضورش در ژاپن او را در موقعیت نوشتن قرار داده است. در این کتاب، نه متن در پی تفسیر تصویرهاست، نه تصویرها در جستوجوی آراستن متن. بازیهای موجود در متن و تصویر و کشف چراییِ چینش تصویرها بدینگونه، از نکات جذاب و قابل توجه کتاب است. تاثیرپذیری نویسنده از فرهنگ متفاوت ژاپن در تمامِ ابعاد، ژرفبینی، قیاس و از همه مهمتر قدرت تحلیلِ فرهنگی بیگانه از غرب، بار دیگر دانش و قدرت بیان نویسنده را به خواننده گوشزد میکند. ظرافتی که در نگاه بارت به دنیای پیرامون وجود دارد، شورِ غیرقابل وصفی را برای ادامه دادن کتاب تا انتها به وجود میآورد. تنوع مباحث مطرح شده، آن هم در فصلهای کوتاه، دایرهی مخاطبانِ کتاب را افزایش میدهد.
متن کامل معرفی را در لینک زیر بخوانید:
http://anthropologyandculture.com/fa/...
October 16, 2017
بیشتر کتاب به اندیشه های بارت دربارۀ کالبد انسانی اختصاص دارد (یعنی رفتار های مودبانه، غذا و غذا خوردن، بازی کردن و نمایش) وتنها بخش کوچکی به معنا(در دو مفهوم شعر و زبان) اختصاص یافته. امپراتوری نشانه ها از نشانه هایی سخن میگوید که خالی از معناست، از دالهایی بدون مدلول و آنچه بارت بارها «تهی بودگی» از معنا میخواند.
این تهی بودگی برای بارت که نظام غرب را نشانه سالارانه و نشانه های غربی را آکنده از معانی سلطه گرانهای میداند که انسانها را دائم در معرض بمباران نشانه هایی قرار میدهد که جز تسلیم چاره دیگری روبروی آن ندارد، نظامی آزادی بخش است.
بارت میکوشد به وسیله ی ژاپن نظام غربی رابشناسد هر جا از نمونه ژاپنی سخن میگوید آن را با نمونه ی غربی مقایسه میکند. ژاپن نشانه ای تهی است واین تهی بودگی نوعی حضور در جهان و زیستن است که در تضاد بازیستن در جهان غرب است.
مثلا غذا شامل نمادهای فراوان است غذا کالبدی است که خود کالبد دیگر را میسازد و در عین حال کالبدی است که باز هم تهی بودگی یا پربودگیاش ایجاد معنا میکند. سینی،کاسه ها، چوبک ها،زیر فنجانی ها ... در حالی که محتوای چندانی ندارد غذایی اندک سوپی رقیق مقداری سبزی. در ژاپن غذا بیشتر با نبود آشپز تعریف میشود تا آشپزی. سینی غذا به پرده نقاشی و غذا خوردن به فرایند نقاشی تشبیه شده.
این تهی بودگی برای بارت که نظام غرب را نشانه سالارانه و نشانه های غربی را آکنده از معانی سلطه گرانهای میداند که انسانها را دائم در معرض بمباران نشانه هایی قرار میدهد که جز تسلیم چاره دیگری روبروی آن ندارد، نظامی آزادی بخش است.
بارت میکوشد به وسیله ی ژاپن نظام غربی رابشناسد هر جا از نمونه ژاپنی سخن میگوید آن را با نمونه ی غربی مقایسه میکند. ژاپن نشانه ای تهی است واین تهی بودگی نوعی حضور در جهان و زیستن است که در تضاد بازیستن در جهان غرب است.
مثلا غذا شامل نمادهای فراوان است غذا کالبدی است که خود کالبد دیگر را میسازد و در عین حال کالبدی است که باز هم تهی بودگی یا پربودگیاش ایجاد معنا میکند. سینی،کاسه ها، چوبک ها،زیر فنجانی ها ... در حالی که محتوای چندانی ندارد غذایی اندک سوپی رقیق مقداری سبزی. در ژاپن غذا بیشتر با نبود آشپز تعریف میشود تا آشپزی. سینی غذا به پرده نقاشی و غذا خوردن به فرایند نقاشی تشبیه شده.
February 22, 2025
One of the most singular books about Japanese culture.
In fact, we Japanese learn about our culture by this book; that is, if one is inclined toward French philosophy and theories of literary criticism.
Barthes makes a powerful point arguing that the center of Japanese culture is emptiness, as Tokyo's center is the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda. It forms a circler expansion in the middle of the mega-city, off-limits to businesses, thus creating the sacred vacuum.
Basically he was saying: "The secret of the secret recipe is that there is no secret," as the father of Po (Kung-Fu Panda) once declared.
Barthes was not the first person who saw Japan as a collection of visual signs. One can make a similar argument about China. At the center of Beijing is the Forbidden City, similar to the Palace in Tokyo. In fact, Julia Kristeva wrote a similar book on China: About Chinese Women.
As the late Fredric Jameson kept insisting, it's vital to contextualize. Both Barthes and Kristeva imposed their semantic practices on Japan and China, and they wrote great books filled with incisive analyses. However, what they didn't do was to examine the socio-economic layers overlapping with our cultures. Especially the part where that culture becomes oppressive.
I'm writing this as the scandal of sexual violence and societal ostracism against Shiori Itō, a rape survivor, is brewing across Japan. Her documentary film about the crime is practically banned here by well-connected people. That was the part of our culture/society Barthes overlooked.
The secret of the Japanese secret is that they collectively hush up, keeping bad things secret.
In fact, we Japanese learn about our culture by this book; that is, if one is inclined toward French philosophy and theories of literary criticism.
Barthes makes a powerful point arguing that the center of Japanese culture is emptiness, as Tokyo's center is the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda. It forms a circler expansion in the middle of the mega-city, off-limits to businesses, thus creating the sacred vacuum.
Basically he was saying: "The secret of the secret recipe is that there is no secret," as the father of Po (Kung-Fu Panda) once declared.
Barthes was not the first person who saw Japan as a collection of visual signs. One can make a similar argument about China. At the center of Beijing is the Forbidden City, similar to the Palace in Tokyo. In fact, Julia Kristeva wrote a similar book on China: About Chinese Women.
As the late Fredric Jameson kept insisting, it's vital to contextualize. Both Barthes and Kristeva imposed their semantic practices on Japan and China, and they wrote great books filled with incisive analyses. However, what they didn't do was to examine the socio-economic layers overlapping with our cultures. Especially the part where that culture becomes oppressive.
I'm writing this as the scandal of sexual violence and societal ostracism against Shiori Itō, a rape survivor, is brewing across Japan. Her documentary film about the crime is practically banned here by well-connected people. That was the part of our culture/society Barthes overlooked.
The secret of the Japanese secret is that they collectively hush up, keeping bad things secret.
October 16, 2018
Hayatımda daha kötü çevirilmiş bir kitaba rastlamadım. Puanım kitaba değil, çeviriye. Lisedeyken Tahsin Yücel'in Gökdelen adlı kitabını okumuştum, gerçekten çok keyifliydi. Hatta herkesin okuması gereken bir kitap olduğunu da düşünüyorum. Ancak asla çeviri yapmamalıymış, sebebini size kitabın Richard Howard'ın ingilizce çevirisinden ve Tahsin Yücel'in çevirilerinden aynı sayfadan iki örnek vererek göstereceğim.
1)
- "Why is an "informal" relation (as we so greedily say) more desirable than a coded one?" (Richard Howard çevirisi s.63)
- "Neden (burada oburlukla söylendiği gibi) "kurala bağlanmamış" bir bağıntı izgelendirilmiş bir bağıntıdan daha çok yeğlenir?" (Tahsin Yücel çevirisi s.66)
2)
- "Topologically, Western man is reputed to be double, composed of a social, factitious, false "outside" and of a personal, authentic "inside" (the site of divine communication)." (Richard Howard çevirisi s.63)
- "Yersel bağlamda, Batılı adam çift, yani toplumsal, yapay, sahte, bir "dış"la, kişisel, gerçek bir "iç"ten (tanrısal iletişimin yeri) oluşmuş diye bilinir." (Tahsin Yücel çevirisi s.66)
Demem o ki, Türkçe kullanmaya gayret gösterip kitap iyice anlaşılmaz hale getirilmiş. Eğer İngilizce veya Fransızca (orjinal dili) biliyorsanız kitabı bu dillerde okumaya çalışın çok daha anlaşılır olacaktır.
Eğlencegerçeği (Funfact) : Adımın (Utku) ilk defa Orhun yazıtları dışında bir yerde cümle içerisinde kullanıldığını görüyorum. Üstelik kitapta bolca geçiyor, ama üzücü olan kısım, Tahsin Yücel adımın anlamını pek bilmiyor sanırım. :(
1)
- "Why is an "informal" relation (as we so greedily say) more desirable than a coded one?" (Richard Howard çevirisi s.63)
- "Neden (burada oburlukla söylendiği gibi) "kurala bağlanmamış" bir bağıntı izgelendirilmiş bir bağıntıdan daha çok yeğlenir?" (Tahsin Yücel çevirisi s.66)
2)
- "Topologically, Western man is reputed to be double, composed of a social, factitious, false "outside" and of a personal, authentic "inside" (the site of divine communication)." (Richard Howard çevirisi s.63)
- "Yersel bağlamda, Batılı adam çift, yani toplumsal, yapay, sahte, bir "dış"la, kişisel, gerçek bir "iç"ten (tanrısal iletişimin yeri) oluşmuş diye bilinir." (Tahsin Yücel çevirisi s.66)
Demem o ki, Türkçe kullanmaya gayret gösterip kitap iyice anlaşılmaz hale getirilmiş. Eğer İngilizce veya Fransızca (orjinal dili) biliyorsanız kitabı bu dillerde okumaya çalışın çok daha anlaşılır olacaktır.
Eğlencegerçeği (Funfact) : Adımın (Utku) ilk defa Orhun yazıtları dışında bir yerde cümle içerisinde kullanıldığını görüyorum. Üstelik kitapta bolca geçiyor, ama üzücü olan kısım, Tahsin Yücel adımın anlamını pek bilmiyor sanırım. :(
January 17, 2015
Let us first agree that the post-modernists, of which Barthes can be called, were more or less all pedants, but then remember than what makes the most noise is not always an empty vessel.
Some of these passages were beautiful, chillingly accurate, sensuous descriptions of aspects of Japanese culture and Japanese life, as they would appear in the eyes of a foreigner. I particularly enjoyed the segments on the lightness of tempura, on the subtlety of beauty as can be observed only among masses of Japanese people, and the impressionistic quality of the haiku.
Unfortunately, this impressionism was not a hallmark of Barthes' own writing, and one can easily be put off by the uneccesarily cryptic or posturing phrase. As Barthes himself writes of the haiku,
Qualities lacking, unfortunately, in this very collection.
Some of these passages were beautiful, chillingly accurate, sensuous descriptions of aspects of Japanese culture and Japanese life, as they would appear in the eyes of a foreigner. I particularly enjoyed the segments on the lightness of tempura, on the subtlety of beauty as can be observed only among masses of Japanese people, and the impressionistic quality of the haiku.
Unfortunately, this impressionism was not a hallmark of Barthes' own writing, and one can easily be put off by the uneccesarily cryptic or posturing phrase. As Barthes himself writes of the haiku,
'how many Western readers have dreamed of strolling through life, notebook in hand, jotting down "impressions" whose brevity would guarantee their perfection, whose simplicity would attest to their profundity...'
Qualities lacking, unfortunately, in this very collection.
March 24, 2017
I always wondered who writes all the nonsensical lines of words on the walls at art museums - this guy! This Parisian guy who doesn't actually own up to having a yellow fever obsession, claiming "he is not analyzing the real Japan but rather (a fictive) one of his own devising," but he walks and talks so much like that particular kind of duck that I can't help but draw that conclusion. He takes all the bits of Japanese culture (zen, bunraku, sechiryori, haiku, ikebana, chopsticks, pachinko, bowing, kabuki, etc) that are there for any visitor to recognize and simply enjoy, and then Barthes affixes all this pretentious onus to it, as though in order to properly experience whatever it is one must follow a rigorous protocol or prescribed doctrine.
I didn't like Richard Howard's translating either, he misspelled futarimo on page 17 and on page 33 describes Kyoto as a Chinese city, forcryingoutloud!
I didn't like Richard Howard's translating either, he misspelled futarimo on page 17 and on page 33 describes Kyoto as a Chinese city, forcryingoutloud!
December 3, 2007
Empire of Signs is an extended thought exercise about the relations between signifier and sign. In these chapters--which read more as connected essays--Barthes examines the functions and apparatuses of a fictional country he calls Japan, a society which is in every way the real country Japan, but which operates in a reality devoid of the complications of meaning his own Western society operates in. In remarkable examinations of chopsticks, food preparation, pachinko parlors, tea ceremonies, Kabuki theater, road maps, and street/city layouts, Barthes reveals a different way of thinking that, for him at least, shows the ultimate meaning of any sign to be meaninglessness--which is to say, not nothing, not meaningless, but emptiness itself, a world devoid of complications and unnecessary projections of thought.
October 22, 2024
the death of the author is a sick thought to have over and over again and being roland barthes must get really boring but i like this as a contribution to the french theorist guy goes somewhere and attempts to describe the ineffable genre of travel writing.
the strange reading of zen praxis as a kind of spiritual horizon of semiology (language as a signifying process always stays on the level of thr signifier without ever trespassing into the realm of signified and this is like reading koans not to understand them or even to bask in some kind of profound unintelligibility but to simply follow their descent into some kind of dithering ephemeral meaninglessness which can only last as long as you facilitate it) is interesting but only as some weird rearticulation of classic semiological ideas through a culture barthes obviously doesn’t understand but i guess that’s kind of the point he’s making in that going somewhere really different lets you experience the otherness of your immediate and comprehensive worldview and that this otherness is conducive to what he considers to be good writing…….,,,
the strange reading of zen praxis as a kind of spiritual horizon of semiology (language as a signifying process always stays on the level of thr signifier without ever trespassing into the realm of signified and this is like reading koans not to understand them or even to bask in some kind of profound unintelligibility but to simply follow their descent into some kind of dithering ephemeral meaninglessness which can only last as long as you facilitate it) is interesting but only as some weird rearticulation of classic semiological ideas through a culture barthes obviously doesn’t understand but i guess that’s kind of the point he’s making in that going somewhere really different lets you experience the otherness of your immediate and comprehensive worldview and that this otherness is conducive to what he considers to be good writing…….,,,
August 21, 2026
What's the major difference between Chinese & Japanese culture from a Western perspective?
The major difference between Chinese and Japanese cultures from a Western perspective lies in the contrast between China's expressive, large-scale collectivism and Japan's reserved, hyper-organized focus on social harmony and detail. Social Etiquette and Public Vibe in Japan: Western visitors often notice an atmosphere of extreme calm, quiet public spaces, and deep concern for personal space and politeness. Bowing, meticulous customer service, and indirect communication are standard. China: The public atmosphere is typically more energetic, loud, and direct. Communication can feel blunt or overwhelming to Westerners accustomed to conversational padding. Social Values and Rules in Japan: Focuses heavily on group harmony (wa), rigid social codes, and rule-following. Fitting into the collective and preserving order take precedence. China: Places high value on practical results, maintaining relational "face," and navigating complex personal networks (guanxi). Modernity and Tradition in Japan: Ancient traditions and historic wooden architecture sit side-by-side with hyper-modern technology, carefully preserved by strict urban and cultural guidelines. China: Displays a massive, fast-paced drive toward rapid modernization and colossal high-rise expansion, often replacing older structures to fuel economic growth
Didn't Roland Barthes approach Japanese culture from a privileged perspective?
Yes, Roland Barthes approached Japan from a privileged outsider perspective, openly treating the country as an imaginative concept rather than a literal or sociological reality.In his book Empire of Signs, Barthes explored Japanese daily life, food, theater, and language not to document actual society, but to use Japan as a theoretical mirror against Western culture. Key Aspects of His Perspective such as being The Tourist and Foreigner Privilege: Barthes freely admitted that he did not speak or read Japanese, suggesting that the inability to understand the language provided a "delicious protection" that kept him detached from literal meanings and social conflicts. An Invented Orient: He explicitly noted at the outset that his writing was not about real Japan, but rather about an "Orient of his own invention" designed as a utopian space free from Western "obsessions" with hidden depths and deep truths. Aestheticizing the Other: Critics and scholars note that by turning everyday Japanese objects and rituals into empty signs for his own semiotic theories, Barthes engaged in a form of aesthetic exoticism that romanticized the culture from a safe, European intellectual standpoint. A Counterpoint to the West: His portrayal of Japan served primarily as an intellectual tool to critique the logocentric, meaning-obsessed nature of Western society rather than to engage with the historical or material realities of modern Japanese people.
How do you reconcile his method of diagnosing a culture with a semiotic ideology of language which, he admits, he used to eroticize the relationship to Eastern body-culture of miniaturized Japanese female porcelain-dolls?
Roland Barthes reconciles his cultural diagnosis with his eroticized fascination by treating the foreign sign not as a hidden truth to expose, but as an empty surface that frees desire from Western psychological depth.Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. Barthes uses this study to decode how culture creates meaning. From Critique to Empty Signs: In his earlier work (Mythologies), Barthes acts like a detective. He unmasks bourgeois culture to show hidden political lies inside everyday objects.He calls this process a critique of ideology. In Empire of Signs, his approach changes completely when he looks at Japan. He stops looking for a hidden meaning underneath the surface. He views Japan as a system where signs point to nothing behind them. The sign is empty and complete on its own. The Role of the Eroticized Doll: When Barthes looks at Japanese women, puppets, or dolls, he sees a pure theater of gestures.Western culture tries to possess, master, or find deep psychological meaning in the other. Barthes admits his fascination is erotic, but it is an eroticism of the surface. The doll or the geisha represents a body without a secret interior. This prevents the usual Western trap of colonial domination or psychological interpretation. How He Reconciles the Method: Barthes bridges his objective cultural diagnosis with his personal desire through self-awareness. He does not claim to offer an objective, scientific truth about Japan. He calls his view a fiction. He admits he uses Japan as a mirror for his own utopian fantasy of a world free from symbolic weight.By acknowledging his own desire, his semiotic method becomes a personal tool for pleasure rather than an academic tool for mastery. The erotic attraction to the foreign signifier coexists with the analysis of it, because the analysis itself is driven by the relief of finding a culture that refuses Western depth.
Did the Japanese sleight-of-hand culture that Barthes praises, as having so hypnotized him in the writing of Empire of Signs, come to be revitalized in the period of economic depression post-2000 under which leader?
What Barthes Actually Explored: Surface and Signs: Barthes used a fictionalized, aestheticized version of Japan as an intellectual exercise. Everyday Rituals: He focused on food, chopsticks, pachinko, package wrapping, and Bunraku puppet theater rather than conjuring or sleight of hand. Empty Center: He famously described Tokyo as having an "empty center" defined by the imperial palace. Post-2000 Japan and Leadership Stagnation and Reform: Japan experienced prolonged economic sluggishness after 2000, often called the "lost decades". Political Figures: Leaders like Junichiro Koizumi and later Shinzo Abe introduced economic and structural reforms (such as "Abenomics"), but none centered on reviving a traditional magic or sleight-of-hand culture
Does Barthes celebrate Japanese Bunraku because it dismisses the soul as a sign that passes from the body into a fetishistic unit of semiosis?
Yes, Roland Barthes celebrates Bunraku because it strips away the Western illusion of a hidden inner soul and exposes the pure surface of physical signs. The Illusion of the Soul Western Theater: Western art treats the body and face as a mirror of a deep, hidden soul. Hidden Meaning: The West believes an invisible inner life controls the outer body. The Puppet: Barthes argues that Western puppets act as a creepy fetish, representing a soul driven by an unseen force. Why Bunraku is Different Visible Labor: The puppeteers stand on stage in plain sight. No Secret Core: There is no hidden string from heaven or secret soul inside the puppet. Pure Surface: The puppet, the operator, and the singer work as separate, visible layers of signs. End of Metaphysics: Bunraku destroys the false link between a physical body and a spiritual interior
How does Japanese staged narrative, as in Bunraku, present works of inwardness or interiority as the Western theater does?
Japanese puppet theater, known as Bunraku, shows private thoughts and inner feelings by splitting a character's expression across a narrator, visible puppeteers, and music instead of relying on a single solo actor.Western theater often uses a soliloquy, where an actor stands alone on stage and speaks their secret thoughts out loud. Bunraku handles this inwardness differently by externalizing the mind through three distinct art forms working together.1. The Voice of the Inner Mind (The Tayū) The Narrator: A chanter called a tayū sits on the side of the stage. Speaking Thoughts: The tayū does not just speak the dialogue. They also describe the secret grief, doubts, and hidden passions of the characters. Emotional Range: The narrator changes their voice pitch, crying, whispering, or shouting to let the audience hear the exact emotional state of the character's soul. The Visible Body (The Puppets) Three Operators: Each large puppet is controlled by three people in full black clothes. Physicalizing Emotion: Because the puppet cannot change its facial expression with muscles, the main puppeteer uses subtle physical movements to show deep pain or love. Gestures of Inwardness: A puppet might slowly drop its head, hide its face with a cloth sleeve, or tremble its fingers to show a broken heart or heavy guilt. The Mood and Atmosphere (The Shamisen) The Music: A musician plays a traditional three-stringed lute called a shamisen. Sounding the Interior: The music mirrors the heartbeat and hidden turmoil of the character, filling the silent spaces between words with pure emotion. How it Compares to Western Theater Western Tradition: Interiority is private and personal. It belongs to one actor's physical body and voice on stage. Bunraku Tradition: Interiority is collective and shared. The character's mind is split outside of the body, voiced by the narrator, moved by the puppeteers, and felt through the music. The inner life becomes a visible landscape for the audience to watch.
How, in Japanese literature, is man's status reconfigured so that he is no longer a puppet in the hands of a divinity, is it that, in Japan, the inside no longer dominates the outside? Where can that be traced back to in Western thinking?
In modern Japanese literature, human status shifted from a divine puppet to an independent self when Meiji-era writers blended traditional spiritual views with Western individualism. Reconfiguring Man and Divinity No distant creator: Traditional Japanese thought—rooted in Shinto and Buddhism—does not view humans as creations ruled by an outside, almighty god. Flow of nature: Humans are part of the natural world, not toys pulled by divine strings. Rise of the individual: Writers in the late 19th and 20th centuries, like Natsume Sōseki, began exploring personal doubt, ego, and free will. The Inside and Outside Dynamic No dominance: The inside (the private mind) and the outside (society or nature) do not try to control each other in traditional Japanese aesthetics. Merging boundaries: Instead, the inner self and outer world flow together. A person recognizes that their mind is connected to their surroundings rather than fighting against an external reality. Harmony over conquest: Rather than mastering or escaping the outside world, Japanese literature often seeks unity with it.Roots in Western Thinking Spinoza's pantheism: This outlook traces back to Baruch Spinoza, a Western philosopher who argued that God and nature are the exact same substance (known as immanence). German Romanticism: Thinkers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe saw humans as living expressions of nature rather than subjects of a separate king-god. Existentialism: Later Western ideas that rejected traditional religious authority also helped shape how modern global literature views human freedom.
Q: Why is politeness regarded with suspicion in Western culture? Answer: Because Western thinking takes it as given that man is double and has an outer hostility covering a divine inside, hence to be impolite is thought to be true and more really skin to a more authentic nature. So speaks our Western morality - as if the degree of our impoliteness is a sign of how important a person we actually are - thus we express through our bad behavior what we regard as a demonstration to others of how well brought up we actually were! In Japan, Barthes says, politeness is a substitute for religion.
Poetry as an artistic form is disappearing in the West because poetry honors silence and, moreover, it contains a range of emotions so concentrated and so diffuse that they are no longer part and parcel of Gen Z's emotional and psychological makeup; they are no longer part of the human experience and, as a result, poetry is no longer a valid form of artistic endeavor with a commercial value.
There is a moment in art where language ceases and the artist, through his many practices and actions recognizes this echoless breach which institutes at once the truth of Zen and the empty form of the haiku. This definition of art/life is posed definitively against a Western culture where words are only understood when compared to other words in a dictionary.
This is clear to Barthes' way of thinking, that Western culture pales before and cannot measure up to Japan's everyday execution of the range of signification of a vision of life without commentary, which the Westerner privatizes due to his wish to achieve a state of finality as a mark of having live to some definite, and highly desirable, end.
Seeing a typewriter or my computer screen endowed with text reminds me that using email as a mean of conveying messages not only argues against the aesthetic labor of the drawing a sign executed in solitude, but it has a direct relationship to the fact a Western transvestite wants to be a particular women (Judy Garland), while a Japanese transvestite is content to display the paraphernalia of womanhood as a collection of signs; it is an alteration and a divestigation between the Western and Eastern ways of being and becoming.
The end of the life of a citizen of Japan is different from a Westerner, too, in that the life force there is no mention of the solemnity of death as there is in America, it's meaning is elided is Japan because no adjective marking this transmigration of the soul is equivalent to the experience of non-being, it is to be understood as the thought of all-"thoughts" which must mentioned as a "given" state. Here in Japan, individuality is not to be understood as the victory of the self, as in the West; it is a simple difference-based process passed ephemerally and without privilege from body to body.
This speaks to the Eastern desire not to make language expressive of reason, but language as a purely vocal exercise, no longer directed and plagued by the external violence of combating armies; thus, Japan's pacifistic tendencies are celebrated. Five stars.
The major difference between Chinese and Japanese cultures from a Western perspective lies in the contrast between China's expressive, large-scale collectivism and Japan's reserved, hyper-organized focus on social harmony and detail. Social Etiquette and Public Vibe in Japan: Western visitors often notice an atmosphere of extreme calm, quiet public spaces, and deep concern for personal space and politeness. Bowing, meticulous customer service, and indirect communication are standard. China: The public atmosphere is typically more energetic, loud, and direct. Communication can feel blunt or overwhelming to Westerners accustomed to conversational padding. Social Values and Rules in Japan: Focuses heavily on group harmony (wa), rigid social codes, and rule-following. Fitting into the collective and preserving order take precedence. China: Places high value on practical results, maintaining relational "face," and navigating complex personal networks (guanxi). Modernity and Tradition in Japan: Ancient traditions and historic wooden architecture sit side-by-side with hyper-modern technology, carefully preserved by strict urban and cultural guidelines. China: Displays a massive, fast-paced drive toward rapid modernization and colossal high-rise expansion, often replacing older structures to fuel economic growth
Didn't Roland Barthes approach Japanese culture from a privileged perspective?
Yes, Roland Barthes approached Japan from a privileged outsider perspective, openly treating the country as an imaginative concept rather than a literal or sociological reality.In his book Empire of Signs, Barthes explored Japanese daily life, food, theater, and language not to document actual society, but to use Japan as a theoretical mirror against Western culture. Key Aspects of His Perspective such as being The Tourist and Foreigner Privilege: Barthes freely admitted that he did not speak or read Japanese, suggesting that the inability to understand the language provided a "delicious protection" that kept him detached from literal meanings and social conflicts. An Invented Orient: He explicitly noted at the outset that his writing was not about real Japan, but rather about an "Orient of his own invention" designed as a utopian space free from Western "obsessions" with hidden depths and deep truths. Aestheticizing the Other: Critics and scholars note that by turning everyday Japanese objects and rituals into empty signs for his own semiotic theories, Barthes engaged in a form of aesthetic exoticism that romanticized the culture from a safe, European intellectual standpoint. A Counterpoint to the West: His portrayal of Japan served primarily as an intellectual tool to critique the logocentric, meaning-obsessed nature of Western society rather than to engage with the historical or material realities of modern Japanese people.
How do you reconcile his method of diagnosing a culture with a semiotic ideology of language which, he admits, he used to eroticize the relationship to Eastern body-culture of miniaturized Japanese female porcelain-dolls?
Roland Barthes reconciles his cultural diagnosis with his eroticized fascination by treating the foreign sign not as a hidden truth to expose, but as an empty surface that frees desire from Western psychological depth.Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. Barthes uses this study to decode how culture creates meaning. From Critique to Empty Signs: In his earlier work (Mythologies), Barthes acts like a detective. He unmasks bourgeois culture to show hidden political lies inside everyday objects.He calls this process a critique of ideology. In Empire of Signs, his approach changes completely when he looks at Japan. He stops looking for a hidden meaning underneath the surface. He views Japan as a system where signs point to nothing behind them. The sign is empty and complete on its own. The Role of the Eroticized Doll: When Barthes looks at Japanese women, puppets, or dolls, he sees a pure theater of gestures.Western culture tries to possess, master, or find deep psychological meaning in the other. Barthes admits his fascination is erotic, but it is an eroticism of the surface. The doll or the geisha represents a body without a secret interior. This prevents the usual Western trap of colonial domination or psychological interpretation. How He Reconciles the Method: Barthes bridges his objective cultural diagnosis with his personal desire through self-awareness. He does not claim to offer an objective, scientific truth about Japan. He calls his view a fiction. He admits he uses Japan as a mirror for his own utopian fantasy of a world free from symbolic weight.By acknowledging his own desire, his semiotic method becomes a personal tool for pleasure rather than an academic tool for mastery. The erotic attraction to the foreign signifier coexists with the analysis of it, because the analysis itself is driven by the relief of finding a culture that refuses Western depth.
Did the Japanese sleight-of-hand culture that Barthes praises, as having so hypnotized him in the writing of Empire of Signs, come to be revitalized in the period of economic depression post-2000 under which leader?
What Barthes Actually Explored: Surface and Signs: Barthes used a fictionalized, aestheticized version of Japan as an intellectual exercise. Everyday Rituals: He focused on food, chopsticks, pachinko, package wrapping, and Bunraku puppet theater rather than conjuring or sleight of hand. Empty Center: He famously described Tokyo as having an "empty center" defined by the imperial palace. Post-2000 Japan and Leadership Stagnation and Reform: Japan experienced prolonged economic sluggishness after 2000, often called the "lost decades". Political Figures: Leaders like Junichiro Koizumi and later Shinzo Abe introduced economic and structural reforms (such as "Abenomics"), but none centered on reviving a traditional magic or sleight-of-hand culture
Does Barthes celebrate Japanese Bunraku because it dismisses the soul as a sign that passes from the body into a fetishistic unit of semiosis?
Yes, Roland Barthes celebrates Bunraku because it strips away the Western illusion of a hidden inner soul and exposes the pure surface of physical signs. The Illusion of the Soul Western Theater: Western art treats the body and face as a mirror of a deep, hidden soul. Hidden Meaning: The West believes an invisible inner life controls the outer body. The Puppet: Barthes argues that Western puppets act as a creepy fetish, representing a soul driven by an unseen force. Why Bunraku is Different Visible Labor: The puppeteers stand on stage in plain sight. No Secret Core: There is no hidden string from heaven or secret soul inside the puppet. Pure Surface: The puppet, the operator, and the singer work as separate, visible layers of signs. End of Metaphysics: Bunraku destroys the false link between a physical body and a spiritual interior
How does Japanese staged narrative, as in Bunraku, present works of inwardness or interiority as the Western theater does?
Japanese puppet theater, known as Bunraku, shows private thoughts and inner feelings by splitting a character's expression across a narrator, visible puppeteers, and music instead of relying on a single solo actor.Western theater often uses a soliloquy, where an actor stands alone on stage and speaks their secret thoughts out loud. Bunraku handles this inwardness differently by externalizing the mind through three distinct art forms working together.1. The Voice of the Inner Mind (The Tayū) The Narrator: A chanter called a tayū sits on the side of the stage. Speaking Thoughts: The tayū does not just speak the dialogue. They also describe the secret grief, doubts, and hidden passions of the characters. Emotional Range: The narrator changes their voice pitch, crying, whispering, or shouting to let the audience hear the exact emotional state of the character's soul. The Visible Body (The Puppets) Three Operators: Each large puppet is controlled by three people in full black clothes. Physicalizing Emotion: Because the puppet cannot change its facial expression with muscles, the main puppeteer uses subtle physical movements to show deep pain or love. Gestures of Inwardness: A puppet might slowly drop its head, hide its face with a cloth sleeve, or tremble its fingers to show a broken heart or heavy guilt. The Mood and Atmosphere (The Shamisen) The Music: A musician plays a traditional three-stringed lute called a shamisen. Sounding the Interior: The music mirrors the heartbeat and hidden turmoil of the character, filling the silent spaces between words with pure emotion. How it Compares to Western Theater Western Tradition: Interiority is private and personal. It belongs to one actor's physical body and voice on stage. Bunraku Tradition: Interiority is collective and shared. The character's mind is split outside of the body, voiced by the narrator, moved by the puppeteers, and felt through the music. The inner life becomes a visible landscape for the audience to watch.
How, in Japanese literature, is man's status reconfigured so that he is no longer a puppet in the hands of a divinity, is it that, in Japan, the inside no longer dominates the outside? Where can that be traced back to in Western thinking?
In modern Japanese literature, human status shifted from a divine puppet to an independent self when Meiji-era writers blended traditional spiritual views with Western individualism. Reconfiguring Man and Divinity No distant creator: Traditional Japanese thought—rooted in Shinto and Buddhism—does not view humans as creations ruled by an outside, almighty god. Flow of nature: Humans are part of the natural world, not toys pulled by divine strings. Rise of the individual: Writers in the late 19th and 20th centuries, like Natsume Sōseki, began exploring personal doubt, ego, and free will. The Inside and Outside Dynamic No dominance: The inside (the private mind) and the outside (society or nature) do not try to control each other in traditional Japanese aesthetics. Merging boundaries: Instead, the inner self and outer world flow together. A person recognizes that their mind is connected to their surroundings rather than fighting against an external reality. Harmony over conquest: Rather than mastering or escaping the outside world, Japanese literature often seeks unity with it.Roots in Western Thinking Spinoza's pantheism: This outlook traces back to Baruch Spinoza, a Western philosopher who argued that God and nature are the exact same substance (known as immanence). German Romanticism: Thinkers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe saw humans as living expressions of nature rather than subjects of a separate king-god. Existentialism: Later Western ideas that rejected traditional religious authority also helped shape how modern global literature views human freedom.
Q: Why is politeness regarded with suspicion in Western culture? Answer: Because Western thinking takes it as given that man is double and has an outer hostility covering a divine inside, hence to be impolite is thought to be true and more really skin to a more authentic nature. So speaks our Western morality - as if the degree of our impoliteness is a sign of how important a person we actually are - thus we express through our bad behavior what we regard as a demonstration to others of how well brought up we actually were! In Japan, Barthes says, politeness is a substitute for religion.
Poetry as an artistic form is disappearing in the West because poetry honors silence and, moreover, it contains a range of emotions so concentrated and so diffuse that they are no longer part and parcel of Gen Z's emotional and psychological makeup; they are no longer part of the human experience and, as a result, poetry is no longer a valid form of artistic endeavor with a commercial value.
There is a moment in art where language ceases and the artist, through his many practices and actions recognizes this echoless breach which institutes at once the truth of Zen and the empty form of the haiku. This definition of art/life is posed definitively against a Western culture where words are only understood when compared to other words in a dictionary.
This is clear to Barthes' way of thinking, that Western culture pales before and cannot measure up to Japan's everyday execution of the range of signification of a vision of life without commentary, which the Westerner privatizes due to his wish to achieve a state of finality as a mark of having live to some definite, and highly desirable, end.
Seeing a typewriter or my computer screen endowed with text reminds me that using email as a mean of conveying messages not only argues against the aesthetic labor of the drawing a sign executed in solitude, but it has a direct relationship to the fact a Western transvestite wants to be a particular women (Judy Garland), while a Japanese transvestite is content to display the paraphernalia of womanhood as a collection of signs; it is an alteration and a divestigation between the Western and Eastern ways of being and becoming.
The end of the life of a citizen of Japan is different from a Westerner, too, in that the life force there is no mention of the solemnity of death as there is in America, it's meaning is elided is Japan because no adjective marking this transmigration of the soul is equivalent to the experience of non-being, it is to be understood as the thought of all-"thoughts" which must mentioned as a "given" state. Here in Japan, individuality is not to be understood as the victory of the self, as in the West; it is a simple difference-based process passed ephemerally and without privilege from body to body.
This speaks to the Eastern desire not to make language expressive of reason, but language as a purely vocal exercise, no longer directed and plagued by the external violence of combating armies; thus, Japan's pacifistic tendencies are celebrated. Five stars.
March 6, 2025
This book is not about the actual country of Japan, but about the empire of signs the author perceived while traveling there. They are not equivalent. Obsessed with Barthes' writing and ability to reveal layer by layer new ways of seeing.
September 10, 2019
pretentious orientalist horseshit
August 2, 2022
As I continue to read Barthes (supposedly more accessible than Foucault, Derrida, Sollers, Deleuze, etc., of whom I’ve read practically nothing) I continue to find his work inaccessible—generally abstruse and overwritten. It could be that I am simply not as intelligent as his other, adoring readers.
April 4, 2023
vorrei avere lo stesso spirito di osservazione di roland barthes
February 6, 2019
A ratos interesante, a ratos demasiado artificioso y surrealista, alejándote completamente del Japón real.
November 23, 2018
بارت با بیانی شاعرانه به توصیف ژاپن یا آنگونه که خود میگوید سرزمینی خیالی به نام ژاپن و در خلال این توصیف به تمایز دیدگاه شرق و غرب و نشانههای نهفته در جزء جزء زندگی روزانه مردمان آن سرزمین میپردازد.
...توصیفهایی بسیار خواندنی و تامل برانگیز
...توصیفهایی بسیار خواندنی و تامل برانگیز
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