A COMPUTER-BASED BARTHESIAN READER'S ASSISTANT
XEBRA RIDES ROLAND BARTHES' TEXTUAL NETWORK OF SIGNIFIERS
By
Bradley C. Watson, Ph.D.
The Ohio State University, 1994
Professor Walter A. Davis, Adviser
ABSTRACT
The processes of determination and use of the "facts of a text" have a long history within the field of literary theory and criticism. There have been both theoretical and empirical approaches, with each having its own set of problems to be overcome in constructing a model that critics can apply to actual texts. Roland Barthes' reading system, as discussed and demonstrated in S/Z, is a largely empirical system. As such, it is subject to theoretical objections, while carrying its own set of problems, largely related to the manual effort required for its application. Assuming that the latter can be overcome, and the non-empirical objections can be put aside, it is clear from the Sarrasine example in S/Z, that a Barthesian reading yields a useful, bountiful harvest of facts, which can be used in numerous ways to generate and support interpretations of texts.
This dissertation focuses on demonstrating, empirically, a tool that overcomes the level of effort inherent to the Barthesian critical method, while concurrently exploring the benefits of using the method. The tool, eXperimental Eclectic Barthesian Readers Assistant (Xebra), is a computer-based implementation of the Barthesian method. The hypothesis is that, given Xebra, some understanding can be attained of the benefits of a deeply detailed criticism. To that end, Xebra and a test of its and the Barthesian method's utility is described. William Faulkner's "The Bear" serves as the test input object, because of its rich complexity and strong critical history. The complexity stretches the system to the limits, theoretical and practical, while the critical history serves as a basis for judging the test results. The test demonstrates both that Xebra reduces the labor issues related to applying Barthes' system and that there are true benefits gained from using Barthes' reading method.