A lecture by Roland Barthes, translated by Richard Howard.

Quotes

“I shall turn from the reasons which have induced the College de France to welcome me—for they are uncertain, in my view—and address those which make my entry here more joyful than honorific; for an honor can be undeserved—joy never is.”

“A professor's sole activity here is research: to speak—I shall even say to dream his research aloud—not to judge, to give preference, to promote, to submit to controlled scholarship.”

Related

While at the Boulder public library looking for a book (Elaine Castillo's How To Read Now), I noticed a book by Edith Grossman, noted translator of Don Quixote: On Translation. I'm currently reading (and enjoying) her Quixote, so I picked up that book as well. I then noticed, a few inches away, another book, stark white with dark blue lettering: This Little Art, by Kate Briggs. It was a Fitzcarraldo Editions book; I much enjoyed one of their other books, and I find the books to be well made and pretty. So I picked up that book as well.

It turns out that Kate Briggs is one of Barthes's translators, and the book begins with a discussion of this very lecture. Also, her book is turning out to be a delight.