A Lover’s Discourse, at its 1978 publication, was revolutionary: Roland Barthes made unprecedented use of the tools of structuralism to explore the whimsical phenomenon of love. Rich with references ranging from Goethe’s Werther to Winnicott, from...
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...