Abstract In RolandBarthes' structuralist semiotic approach to sociology, it is clear that much insight into the character of society and culture can be derived by linguistic analogy. The paper shows that Barthes develops the view that language has a dual function that is public, available for all to see in a social context on one hand and on the other a psychological, i.e., private or imaginative, function. Creative and imaginative processes are associated with the impulse to respond to and express or interpret the public or social meanings that are made in and by language in its cultural function. The paper shows that much of what the individual experiences as either social or personal begins with language--identity, features of experience, narrative, communication with others and so on.
From the Paper "Thus Barthes looks at how linguistic forms, whether advertisements, art, rhetoric, or forms of social organization that function as communication, are actually used, with a view toward showing how their function indicates or signifies meaning for the (personal and private) experience of society. In other words, Barthes is looking at what social, public expressions intend to accomplish, with a view toward exposing the truth of or agenda behind those communicative processes. Signs and symbols, including language but also images, art, sounds, and so on, are the media of communication. The signs may be psychological or physical or both, and either manifestly or by way of some kind of code meant to convey (or conceal) meaning, these signs (signifiers) refer to or stand for (signify) some thing. The semiotic sociology, then, seeks to account for, or so to speak "decode," what is seen or expressed overtly. It is necessary because all linguistic designations come from somewhere."
The author uses theorist RolandBarthes and his claims about culture to argue that the article by Terry and the song by Dylan are both representations of the culture of that decade.
2,395 words (approx. 9.6 pages), 3 sources, 2001, $ 73.95
Abstract This paper looks at the article by Wallace Terry, "Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans," Wallace Terry, which gives the reader a different perspective of what the war was like in the eyes of a black veteran in the Vietnam War, and Bob Dylan's famous anti-war song "Master of War." To many people, the war against Communism seems natural, that the "myth" or ideology of Democracy is correct, however, theorist RolandBarthes claims that this myth was socially and historically constructed to make people believe this. The author uses theorist RolandBarthes and his claims about culture to argue that the article by Terry and the song by Dylan are both representations of the culture of that decade.
From the Paper "Wallace Terry's article and Bob Dylan's song were not what people just read and listen to in that decade, it was the expression of how the people felt about the Vietnam War. Terry's article reveals to the public the ongoing slaughter of innocent people in Vietnam, and the traumatic experiences these soldiers were going through. Dylan's song, too, reveals how tired the people are of the military authority training men to fight a war they do not want to be involved in. Terry's article and Dylan's song exemplify the ideological tensions of the Vietnam War between two groups, those for the war and those against the war. Those who were against the war were mostly the young generation who didn't want to fight in the war because they felt that they should not be drafted to war at the age of eighteen when they were not even allowed to vote until the age of twenty-one. Many young minorities such as the blacks did not want to fight in the war because they did not want to give their lives for a country that did not even give them their freedom and respect. With implications of anti-war themes, the article and song also illustrate the tensions of the larger society, the people who were for the war. Those who favored war counter-argued that this war would bring economic prosperity to the US, and also reasoned that it was for a good cause, to stop Communism from spreading like wildfire in the world."
Tags: anti-authority, generation, military, racial, tension, war
Abstract This paper discusses the criticism of RolandBarthes as applied to the photographic image and the concepts of the stadium and the punctum as they help explain the effect of an image on the viewer. The paper then applies them to two images from John Szarkowski's book "Looking at Photographs," suggesting where Barthes may not fully explain the way photographs reach the viewer and how they carry meaning.
From the Paper "The photographic image has been described as a momentary capturing of reality, based on the false dictum that the camera never lies. In truth, the camera may lie, and it may alter "reality" in the process of capturing it. Critic Roland Barthes has written extensively on the meaning of the image and on how the image achieves its effects on the viewer, and so how the image conveys meaning. Meaning can also be imposed by the viewer, and the process is not always easy to sort out by those who want to know which came first. The concepts offered by Barthes will be discussed first, followed by an application of them to two images from John Szarkowski's book Looking at Photographs."
Abstract In this article the writer addresses the current issue of cosmetic surgery and vanity as it relates to societal expectations. The writer explores the work of RolandBarthes titled "The Face of Garbo" to illustrate the long impact that vanity and facial looks have on society even today. The writer concludes that the work by Barthes, aims to exploit, explain and examine the issue of good looks and the societal reverence for good looks in the era of Garbo, but one can easily see that the issue of good looks is still present today.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Writing
References
From the Paper "This is underscored by Barthes in his writing when he examines the lack of expression in the eyes but raves over the beauty in the plaster like facial beauty.
This is a work that easily relates to the contemporary issue of vanity as the world watches Spain get heavily criticized on its recent mandate that models who are too thin will not be allowed to walk the fashion show runways.
It doesn't matter to current society what one is doing to one's health or what one's dreams and ambitions are as long as one looks good. Today, women in the news field have to constantly maintain their youthful looks while their male peers are allowed to age before the camera. A few years ago a woman broadcast anchor sued a major network for firing her because she began to age, however it continues to happen".
Abstract This paper examines the notion that, while a literary work will continue to thrive for a long time, the figure of the author will vanish. To this extent, the paper analyzes a quote by Italo Calvino that expresses this idea. The paper relates "The Death of the Author" by RolandBarthes to a discussion on James Joyce's "Ulysses," explaining how Joyce questions the authority of the author in "Ulysses," his cyclical vision of literature, his use of inter-textuality and varying styles, and his aim to damage the 'tyranny of the author'.
From the Paper "Ulysses is renowned for its extensive use of intertextuality, through which Joyce could be said to undermine his own position as author. Ulysses propounds a cyclical, modernist view of history and of literature. The story of Homer's The Odyssey is self-consciously recuperated, its characters brought to life in twentieth century Dublin. The myth is revived, and the banal is elevated by a mythic dimension. Simultaneously, the past and the present are brought into ironic contrast, to comic effect. The past is renewed in Ulysses, but Joyce seems to doubt that anything completely 'new' can ever exist; history is a cycle, people are 'types' not individuals, and literature is a process not of creation, but of recycling. In this way, Joyce seems to doubt the author's ability to 'create', to ever be original, and it is this ability to create which is viewed as the main function of the author, and is the reason for much of society's admiration for them."
Abstract The following paper examines the five codes and ideas that appear in RolandBarthes' 'S/Z' and applies it to Jane Austen's novel 'Mansfield Park'. Barthes' codes apply both on the small scale, to the language and on the larger scale, to the whole novel. This paper demonstrates the application of the codes, specifically the cultural and symbolic code, to both the novel as a whole and to certain selected texts.
From the Paper "Roland Barthes writes about different characters in Sarrasine fitting into different roles, such as passive/active or mother/father. In Mansfield Park, many of the characters fit into these roles or actant. Fanny can definitely be classified as "passive". She is not a radical, she stands for silence, tradition, tranquillity, manners and for acting upon what one knows, not what one feels. Mary Crawford is "active" and an advocate of change. She acts on her emotions and stands for movement, modern ideas, progressiveness and speaking one's mind instead of remaining silent."
Abstract The paper presents a comparative analysis of two images from RolandBarthes' Camera Lucida photographic images; Andre Kertesz' "The Violinist's Tune" and Nicephore Niepce's "The Dinner Table". The paper shows how an artist such as Victor Burgin would disagree with Barthes' view that photographs lack codes and would contend that even innocuous images can contain complex ranges of political and ideological codes.
From the Paper "Barthes' reading of The Violinist's Tune is particularly interesting for it allows us to understand how Barthes conceives of the reading of images as often a highly personalized affair. While he situates his reading in terms of his theoretical apparatus of studium and punctum, it is important to note that his response to this image cannot be precisely determined by this theoretical frame. Barthes defines the concept of studium as a taste or interest in a thing: "a kind of general, enthusiastic commitment" (Barthes 26)."
Abstract This paper explains that RolandBarthes relates that the knowledge a viewer needs to understand the meaning of the image is bound up with perception and association, intangible and fluid cultural products, rather than with the stable carriers of meaning that constitute language. The author explores two Netherlandish paintings using this theory: "Still Life with Fruits and Flowers" by Balthasar van der Ast (late 1620s), which is in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, and "Banquet Still Life" by Abraham van Beyeren (1667), which is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California. The paper concludes that these still life paintings immediately present the viewer with two layers of potential meaning: The decorative and the symbolic, with the latter very often embodying religious messages.
From the Paper "Van der Ast's painting has as its focal point a large shallow bowl filled with fruit, partially encircled by a ring of fruit, shells, insects and other objects, while on the left of the picture is a glass jar containing flowers. Flowers and fruit possessed a particularly wide range of significance, as well as being regarded as attractive objects in their own right, and accordingly they are often found in still life paintings of this period. On an aesthetic level the image is an appealing one, with a balanced but lively composition, depicting attractive objects, and providing the eye with a variety of textures and colours. This aesthetic level of appeal is itself a carrier of meanings - that such an image, of such content, was seen as appealing in the society of its time itself tells us something about the symbolic as well as the directly artistic nature of this image. It is a painting of goods rather than people, produced in a commercial society, and as Richard Leppert has observed, "still life's attention to goods - possessions, things one could 'have' and by having in part define oneself -guaranteed its popularity with and significance for an audience of principally rich buyers". The nature of this type of art, the "time-consuming, meticulous work" that such elaborate pictures demanded, was expensive and thus in itself symbolized wealth. The physical nature and appearance of the painting is thus tied to the layers of meaning that can be excavated below its surface."
Abstract The paper offers a summary of RolandBarthes' account of myth. The paper explains how myth is understood in modern Western culture. The paper includes Barthes' definition and analysis of what myth means and what its components are.
From the Paper "Barthes' essay "Myth Today" shows how myth makes meaning in modern Western culture. To get to that objective, he undertakes an extended project of definition and analysis of what myth itself means and what its components are. He begins with the obvious point that myth is a type of speech although he includes in that a range of communication activities. Myth involves the communication speech artifact which comes in a certain form."
Abstract This paper examines the two medieval works "Everyman," and "The Song of Roland," both written by anonymous authors. Specifically, it compares and contrasts the two texts, illustrating their commonalities and distinct differences. It discusses how no matter how both protagonists accepted their fate and faced death, both stories show that both men died and acquired salvation according to the Christian ideal. It looks at how the play "Everyman" shows this world and its life is only materialistic and temporary. "The Song of Roland" shows living a good life is not enough, one must truly believe in Christianity and repent for one's sins to find everlasting redemption and life. Only life after death is real and rewarding when one arises to heaven and experiences God's true love.
From the Paper "Yet another theme in both stories is trust and loyalty. Roland's character embodies ironic trust, because it is his own stepfather who betrays him. Roland is loyal to a man who he cannot trust. Oliver, Roland's good friend, is loyal towards Roland until his death. In "Everyman," Good Deeds? loyalty surpasses those of everyone else. All the others who call themselves friends promise Everyman loyalty and faith yet their words mean nothing for they fail to keep their promises. This is where the two men diverge. They have much in common, but the two works diverge in their style and delivery, which sets each man apart with his own struggles and messages."
Abstract This paper looks at how "Everyman" and "The Song of Roland" are both morality plays, which were written anonymously during the medieval times. It examines how both plays give a message of ethics and good faith to their audience mainly through their main characters Everyman and Roland and how each hero undergoes death, which is in accordance with Christian ideals. It emphasizes the differences between how both characters struggle and face death and how they eventually learn to accept their fate.
From the Paper "Besides the struggle against death another common theme in both dramas is facing death. Everyman after being granted the permission from God seeks camaraderie. Everyman is certain and confidant that those who he consider friends will certainly offer their help once he tells them his problem. He calls for Fellowship, Goods, Beauty and Strength to council and accompany him on his way but sadly they betray him despite their strong promises and due to their true nature. Only two of his true friends namely, Good-Deeds and Knowledge agree to help Everyman through this tough situation. Everyone is overjoyed and learns to arbiter correctly what actually matters to the health of the soul facing death. Roland and his knights offer no resistance against the Saracens who are great in number."
Abstract This well-researched paper delves into the text of the poem which focuses on events that took place in medieval times during the reign of the Christian Emperor Charlemagne. The writer of this paper applies the normative-descriptive method of research in gathering, interpreting and analyzing material derived from an English translation of the actual poem as well as published accounts, criticisms and analyses of the actual text. This paper analyzes "The Song of Roland" as both a work of literature and as a tool of propaganda. This paper discusses the popular premise that the poet's main intent was to inflame the Christian community and turn it against the followers of Islam. This paper discusses the poet's obvious inclusion of incorrect historical facts and racial biases throughout the poem. The writer explores the author's obvious pro-Christian stance in this particular poem. This paper also examines the views and opinions of various historians and critics who suggest that this poem, written in the 11th century about events that took place in the 8th century is largely misunderstood by most readers.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
"The Song of Roland" as a Literary Work
"The Song of Roland" as a Propaganda Text
Conclusion
Bibliography
From the Paper "Charlemagne's revenge of Roland's death at Roncesvalles became deeply and firmly impressed into the minds of the French people. It does not appear to be a coincidence that the first extent version of this great chanson was written around 1095 during the launching of the First Crusade. From a political maneuver, it turns into a call for a holy war against the Muslims of Spain on account of their attack on Charlemagne's rear guard at Roncesvalles. The epic delineates and clearly and firmly sets down the meanings of good and evil throughout. It does so distinctively in the battlefield scenes where super-mortal forces clash for the control of the earth, using mortal bodies of Christians and pagans in a way of cosmological significance. While based on historical facts, the Song of Roland went through editing in the three centuries between the massacre and the writing of this epic. It is historically factual that the rear guard of Charlemagne's army was slaughtered at Roncesvalles, but it was the Basques and the Muslims that crushed Charlemagne's forces. Neither were the Franks waging a holy war against Spain."
Tags: french, literature, islam, christianity, roland, war, history, medievel
Abstract This paper compares and discusses two tales that deal with the consequences of the many types of human frailty: "The Song of Roland" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." It also provides the background and historical context of each work.
Tags: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Song of Roland, human frailty
Abstract The author of this paper examines whether there is a basis of truth in the statement that capital punishment deters violent crime. The writer contends that this statement is used by many who believe in the death penalty but that there are many that insist that there is little to no effect. The author examines both sides of the argument in an attempt to draw conclusions from the information gathered and determine which side is correct.
Outline:
Introduction
Argument for the Death Penalty
Argument Against the Death Penalty
Conclusion
Works Cited
From the Paper "It is possible, however, that the death penalty would be a deterrent if it were used more swiftly and more often. Many people who are sentenced to death spend years in prison appealing their conviction and appealing their sentence, and this is a large waste of taxpayer money, as well as a huge burden on the court system. Those that are guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt often wait a long time for their sentence to be carried out. Even when DNA evidence shows that they were the guilty party, the execution is still not swiftly carried out, and this allows many criminals to find some way to avoid it.
Instead, they end up spending their life in prison, where they get hot meals every day, are allowed to exercise, and have a bed to sleep in every night. They watch TV and read books, and this is more than many of the hungry and homeless in today's society get. Criminals are treated better than many of these people. The criminals have lost their freedom, but they get a lot of things in return for that, and society is required to pay for them through taxes and other avenues that fund the prisons."
