Xiaolu Guo’s A Lover’s Discourse: Analysis of the Influence of Roland Barthes
Abstract
This paper aims to analyse A Lover’s Discourse (2020), a novel by Chinese writer Xiaolu Guo, comparing it to A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments (1978) by Roland Barthe and examining to what degree the French linguist and semiotician has influenced the author’s work. The discourse between lovers developed by Guo resembles that of Barthes on a structural, linguistic, and thematic level, but is set in an intercultural and multilingual context. By reframing the discourse as such, Xiaolu Guo contemplates themes of love, wordlessness, and home, connected to the migrant’s experience.
Presentato: 31 Gennaio 2023 | Accettato: 21 Giugno 2023 | Pubblicato 29 Agosto 2023 | Lingua: en
Keywords A Lover’s Discourse • Chinese literature • Fragments d’un discours amoureux • Intercultural communication • Xiaolu Guo • Roland Barthes
Copyright © 2023 Elisabetta Giuliano. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/017