Barthes's Black Soldier: The Making of a Mythological Celebrity

Abstract

Abstract:This article examines Roland Barthes's representation of the African body and the theoretical use of blackness in one of his most famous texts, Mythologies (1957). More specifically, it examines the implications of the paradigmatic status conferred to the so-called "black soldier" based on the analysis of a popular French magazine photography. It argues not only that Barthes's original representation is fraught with misreadings of the image, but also that the mythological celebrity of the black soldier has been deployed through the uncritical repetition of this initial take. Finally, the article points to existing or potential reexaminations of this celebrity in film and photography.