"The Pillow Book," "S/Z," and "Rewriting"

I found S/Z by Roland Barthes a bit difficult to get through, but after reading it over and thinking about it, I found that it was basically about how works of literature have more than one meaning or “plurality.” The authors also talked about how there is not a specific formula for a work of literature since they are all different. It is also mentioned that it is important to know the denotative meaning of words when reading a classic text. This is most likely because the connotations change over time and in different cultures. Especially when a work is translated, the culture and time that it is done in will probably affect the translated work a great deal, adding another layer of meaning. Rewriting was an easier read than S/Z. It had some useful strategies that I can try to incorporate into my own essays. The second excerpt from The Pillow Book was similar to the first. It was written in the same form and style and again showed the importance of poetry in the writer’s culture (people would send poems as messages and to test people). This made me think about how the work was translated (as was mentioned in class) and how much of an impact the translation had on the text, especially the poetry and poetry-like parts. It seems like it would be nearly impossible for the original flow and style of the poem to remain after the translation.