Thauvin
Thauvin was at the time of the writing described by the author as a “fifty year old with an obese and sagging body.” That wouldn’t be particularly enlightening were this particular French celebrity of the moment not a professional wrestler. And in that jarring juxtaposition of the physique that might otherwise be expected and the physique that is presented without shock or surprise on the part of spectators, Barthes finds his symbolic incarnation the very definition that professional wrestling is spectacle alone and not sport at all.
Greta Garbo
During the silent film era at the beginning of the 20th century, Greta Garbo was arguably the most recognized face in the world. She was the biggest female star of the silent period and despite rumors to the contrary that her career was one of the many which was sacrificed as a result of her voice not quite “matching” up with the image that film fans had constructed, she actually successfully made the transition to talkies, but shortly afterward chose to retire into seclusion while still at the top. Interestingly, Barthes chooses as his focus the idea that Garbo’s famous face was itself a means of communication.
Jules Verne
Even today, Verne is still probably the one French writer almost everybody outside of France recognizes. Even if they never read a word, most people know at least one of his famous science fiction works. Barthes focuses on that most famous of all Verne’s work and the iconic symbol of it: Captain Nemo’s fantabulous submarine, the Nautilus, declaring it a symbol both of departure and enclosure.
Albert Einstein
The title of the chapter which the author devotes to the most famous scientist of the 20th century—if not of all time—sounds like a B-movie: “The Brain of Einstein.” In this case, however, the reference is not metaphorical as in the “genius” of Einstein, but quite literal as in an analysis of the meaning that Einstein donated his actual brain for scientific study.
