In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Diagnosis 7 RBonTB Roland Barthes once wrote this caption above a photograph of himself taken after his recovery from tuberculosis:“Sudden mutation of the body (after leaving the sanatorium): changing (or appearing to change) from slender to plump. Ever since, perpetual struggle with this body to return it to its essential slenderness (part of the intellectual’s mythology: to become thin is the naïve act of the will-­ to-­ intelligence).” As I developed a genuine intelligence of my body—­ I mean, when it became more intelligible to my mind—­ I regained some of the weight I’d lost in the aftermath of the diagnosis. Was my initial desire to slim down at such a breakneck pace nothing other than a quest for physical erasure? A mad attempt at getting rid of the virus, the unwanted guest that crashed the party, by withdrawing not only the invitation but the host himself? ...

Share