Travels in China - Roland Barthes

In 1974 Roland Barthes travelled in China as part of a smalldelegation of distinguished French philosophers and literaryfigures. They arrived in China just as the last stage of theCultural Revolution was getting underway - the campaign tocriticize Lin Biao and Confucius. While they were welcomed bywriters and academics, the travelers were required to follow apre-established itinerary, visiting factories and constructionsites, frequenting shows and restaurants that were the mainstay ofWestern visitors to China in the 70s.

Barthes planned to return from the trip with a book on China: thebook never materialized, but he kept the diary notes he wrote atthe time. The notes on things seen, smelled and heard alternatewith reflections and remarks - meditations, critiques or notes ofsympathy, an aside from the surrounding world. Published now forthe first time more than thirty years after the trip, thesenotebooks offer a unique portrait of China at a time of turbulenceand change, seen through the eyes of the world's greatestsemiotician.