Idle writing and emptiness : Roland Barthes's studies on Japan and Haiku

Abstract

The purpose of this project will be to investigate Roland Barthes's studies on Japan and Haiku. The main texts of his that I will be dealing with are Empire of Signs and The Preparation of the Novel with frequent references to other texts of his as well as relevant secondary readings. I intend to look at how Barthes looks at Japan as a world that offers a different look at familiar signs, and in so doing, he attempts to reinterpret the genre of travel literature in a way that provides him a fresh opportunity for writing. The emphasis will be on Barthes's personal preference and reading of haiku as a form of poetry that attempts to reduce the effects of metalanguage, commentary, etc., while also providing a new mode of writing that lays the ground for novel writing. Furthermore, I will investigate to what extent the idea of a positive form of idleness as well as the notions of space/interval (間) and emptiness/void (無) are pervasive throughout Barthes's works on the orient. Finally, I will shed light on Barthes's endless personal struggles he increasingly faced in expressing his desire to write a novel and how his studies on the Orient and haiku were stepping stones in his ongoing project.