From the desk of roland barthes: Putting mater (and pater) back in materialism

In this essay, the author examines a brief account by the historian Jacques Le Goff of Roland Barthes’s years as an administrator in the Sixth Section of the École pratique des hautes études (which eventually became the EHESS). This account provides an opportunity for a more sustained reflection on writing, paperwork, and the materiality of communication. The author argues that some recent scholarship in book history, media studies, and related fields has neglected the unconscious dimensions of communication.