Roland Barthes (1915-1980), French essayist and critique, specializes in reflection on the characteristics of literature through analyses of works of other art forms. Compared to Barthes' writings on photography, painting, and movies, his essays on music are relatively unknown, yet equally revealing and important. Most of his writings on music are collected in the third volume of Essais critiques, L'obvie et l'obtus, and are written after 1970. Different from what he has done with his analyses on literary subjects or art forms, Barthes does not attempt to construct a theoretical system of interpretation for music; instead he adopts a random and highly personal scope. His writings on music encompass discussions and analyses on music genres, composers, performers he appreciates and investigate different aspects of this art form; together they establish a unique aesthetic model and formulate a new writing style. In this article, the author examines Barthes' essays on music and discusses how Barthes relates language, body and practice and how through the musical discourse, Barthes develops a new approach to music through the idea of signifiance and creates a new playground of intertexual writings on music.
