Post Class: Barthes and Macherey

Upon leaving class on Thursday I came to understand a great deal more about Macherey and Barthes and their connections to de Saussure. Roland Barthes theorized that when a group of dissimilar words are presented our minds attempt to connect the dots, or fill in the gaps, in order to form a narrative. An example of this theory corresponds to the term tmesis, which is a linguistic phenomenon in which a word is separated into two parts with other words occurring between them (e.g. abso------lutely)- our minds work to fill in the gaps. Barthes also suggested that there was a sort of pleasure derived from text, or jouissance, slightly related to voyeurism. He suggests that there is something physical when encountering a text; a reaction without the conscious mind. Therefore, in order to analyze the text one must take themself outside of it and turn it inside out, or create a perversion of the text, as Barthes would say. Macherey also believes in a perversion of the text, but does not declaratively state that there is a sexual joy experienced while encountering a text. He questions whether or not any text is completely original, or whether each text relies upon a previously published work. This theory lends itself to intertextuality, in which everything is derived from something else; there are resonances between texts. Macherey also states that the gaps in the text are where the meanings lie. He alludes to this theory when he says "in order to say anything, there are other things which must not be said" (A Critical and Cultural Theory Reader 17). These two theorists relate to de Saussure because of their connections to langue, the whole system of language that precedes and allows speech, and parole, grammar, syntax, etc., and the studies they employ in order to establish the semiotics taking place within language.