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georgewlsmith's review
4.0
Barthes looks at everyday life in Japan, dissecting and analysing the signs and signifiers in everyday activities and interactions. It's an interesting exploration of the peace and minimalism in Japanese culture and a book I recommend for anyone fascinated with Japan, everyday life or Barthes's work on signs and semantics.
beepbeepbooks's review
5.0
so beautiful, a book I'll read every year and savor, like a very expensive tea. Barthes just writes so well.
Does so much with thinking about gesture, about the role that social signs have. Cant' wait to read Barthes book on sports
Does so much with thinking about gesture, about the role that social signs have. Cant' wait to read Barthes book on sports
sebseb's review
4.0
What may seem outdated in our post-Said, Orientalism-savvy climate is in fact still relevant, though easily susceptible to fetishistic and (ironically) essentialist readings. Barthes's travel-book is personal; the hand-written language notes, photographs, poems, newspaper clippings, and sketch-like chapters create the impression that you are travelling through Japan with him, jotting down impressions rather than lingering on profound contemplations of difference. Nonetheless, the impressions all show angles of the same essay thesis, each fragment serves as an example of an imagined Japan that consists of a proliferation of "empty" signs - form without content. It would be easy, in fact, to accuse Barthes of showing anti-essentialism as an essential attribute of Japan, if he didn't elaborate on his reasons for writing as he does.
His method (which today I think we could call both structuralist and post-structuralist) is to articulate an elaborate system embodied in quotidian artefacts and impressions (chopsticks, food, train stations, landscapes, even the shape of East Asian eyes) in order to prise apart the idea of systems-as-representations, or the Empire of Meaning that he sees as dominating in the West. In fact, Barthes is writing about what it is like for the West (as a human body, a culture, a hegemony) to come into contact with Japan: the true object of the book is not Japan, but the experience of Japan within a Western framework – an experience that disrupts, unsettles, and even liberates that framework towards new forms. Importantly, Barthes achieves this without becoming didactic in any way: he is not interested in "other symbols" or "another wisdom", but "the possibility of a difference, a mutation".
His method (which today I think we could call both structuralist and post-structuralist) is to articulate an elaborate system embodied in quotidian artefacts and impressions (chopsticks, food, train stations, landscapes, even the shape of East Asian eyes) in order to prise apart the idea of systems-as-representations, or the Empire of Meaning that he sees as dominating in the West. In fact, Barthes is writing about what it is like for the West (as a human body, a culture, a hegemony) to come into contact with Japan: the true object of the book is not Japan, but the experience of Japan within a Western framework – an experience that disrupts, unsettles, and even liberates that framework towards new forms. Importantly, Barthes achieves this without becoming didactic in any way: he is not interested in "other symbols" or "another wisdom", but "the possibility of a difference, a mutation".
carinasamantha's review
3.0
I love Barthes, but most of what he says in here is questionable and... a reach.
redbluemoon's review against another edition
2.0
Hard to understand it all, and sometimes dubious. Too much theory; plus, Barthes wants to apply his structuralist theory to Japan, which is, to me, quite strange.
andreeah's review
4.0
Fascinating and captivating. Barthes essentially exposes what the ideal Western world looks like to him and decides to name it "Japan".
shanepunk's review
5.0
So great, intriguing, beautiful book. Reading it was a pleasure and it was so hard to put it down that I had to finish it in one day. I really enjoyed his analyses of objects connected with Japan or what he was calling Japan (foodstuff, chopsticks, pachinko etc.) - in a manner that was unexpectedly brilliant, full of comparisons that had spoken to me. With all those, he has made clear, inspiring connections. Also, the way of writing here gives the feeling like I was reading a novel in Orhan Pamuk's manner (which for me places it really high). The edition (Hill and Wang which belongs to Farrar, Strauss and Giroux), with extra black-and-white photographies, was a wonderful addition in order to make it a piece of art.
bookdragona's review
4.0
Barthes tiene una forma de escribir que es hermosa, no importa de lo que esté hablando. Aunque el Japón de Barthes no es el Japón real (y lo advierte) aún así cae en el exotismo, pero eso no le quita el increíble análisis de signos vacíos/llenos que va elaborando a lo largo del ensayo.
Me encantó de forma particular toda la parte que habla de los Haikús.
Me encantó de forma particular toda la parte que habla de los Haikús.
brgntteva's review against another edition
5.0
le riflessioni sul senso, sullo zen e sul linguaggio sono fenomenali