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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A furtive contact

Down with a sore throat, I am re-reading Roland Barthes' "A Lover's Discourse." It is structured as a glossary, so you can read entries in no particular order--wherever the book opens, perhaps, or when you come across an intriguing concept.

I like the way he deconstructs the language of love: intelligent, precise, sometimes ironic. He covers everything from jealousy to writing love letters, from waiting to scenes and to the inevitable i-love-yous. It's a good book to be reading if you are suffering from a heartbreak because it helps you look at it in a cool, surgical manner and you need a little bit of reason in the midst of that emotional turmoil. That was the case with me when I discovered Barthes seven years ago.

I would be quoting half the book here if I could because I like what he writes and how he does it. But here is a short paragraph taken from the entry called "Contacts: The figure refers to any interior discourse provoked by a furtive contact with the body (and more precisely the skin) of the desired being":

A squeeze of the hand--enormous documentation--a tiny gesture within the palm, a knee which doesn't move away, an arm extended, as if quite naturally, along the back of a sofa and against which the other's head gradually comes to rest--this is the paradisiac realm of subtle and clandestine signs: a kind of festival not of the senses but of meaning.

I love those secret signs loaded with meaning and promise--there's so much excitement and thrill in them, when you are still exploring an unknown territory and anything can be.

13 comments:

Polly said...

I love Barthes and I love Lovers Discourse and you're right, it is extremely surgical. I bought it some time ago precisely because I was looking for answers and I found solace I needed in the book's cool attitude...

Have you read his Image-Music-Text? Some great ideas there...

Jelica said...

No, I haven't read anything else by him, Polly. I remember looking for his other works in our university library but there were none, except for A Lover's Discourse. I will try the one you recommend. Have you read Camera Lucia? That could be interesting--his take on photography :)

Jo said...

That's lovely. I love writing that is lyrical like that. It makes us feel the sensation as we are reading it.

I will have to check that book out.

Jelica said...

I do hope you will like it, Jo.

Ruslan said...

Thanks for the post, Jelica. That's a frightening book: one can recognize oneself on every page.

The Lover's Discourse reminds me of the summer of 1997 when I was reading it in the army in Bulgaria, in a dimly lit room, a AK-47 by my bed, still licking the wounds of a recently ended relationship. I agree it helps.

It helps us see ourselves from outside and makes us understand that we and our loves are not that new.

muthu said...

nice lines though jagged at edges, it has a subtle depth....

Delwyn said...

Good morning Ruslan/Jelica,

both such beautiful names...

I am going to have to look for that book. The meaningful furtive touches gave me the shivers...or tingles up my spine....ah ...so long ago....
I have been married for 37 years...and still find him a treasure.

Delwyn said...

P.S. Pollicino dropped his calling card at my place too!!!!

Tess Kincaid said...

"A knee which doesn't move away". I like that. Hope the sore throat is better soon!

Merisi said...

Beautiful!
I haven't read anything by Roland Barthes, now I am inrigued. Thank you for leading me to him! :-)

Get well soon!

Jelica said...

Thanks, everyone! Unfortunately Boris is back in hospital and so am I, so if I don't write or answer comments that is the reason.

julochka said...

anyone who writes "re-reading roland barthes" is awesome in my book. :-) must go and get some off my shelf and reread as well. :-) tho' i'm thinking camera lucida since i'm so into photography at the moment.

i had a whole glorious semester of barthes and only barthes my first year of grad school. bliss.

Rishaan Yellapragada said...

nicely written