--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A paradox: the same century invented…" description: "\"“A paradox: the same century invented History and PHotography. But History is a memory fabricated according to positive formulas, a pure intellectual d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d7/roland-barthes-1062_history_a-paradox-the-same-century-invented-hist_2951287.png" --- # A paradox: the same century invented History and… ![“A paradox: the same century invented History and PHotography. But History is a memory fabricated according to positive formulas, a pure intellectual discourse which abolishes mythic Time; and the Photograph is a certain but fugitive testimony; so that everything, today, prepares our race for this…” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d7/roland-barthes-1062_history_a-paradox-the-same-century-invented-hist_2951287.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d7/roland-barthes-1062_history_a-paradox-the-same-century-invented-hist_2951287.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d7/roland-barthes-1062_history_a-paradox-the-same-century-invented-hist_2951287.png) > ““A paradox: the same century invented History and PHotography. But History is a memory fabricated according to positive formulas, a pure intellectual discourse which abolishes mythic Time; and the Photograph is a certain but fugitive testimony; so that everything, today, prepares our race for this impotence: to be no longer able to conceive duration , affectively or symbolically: the age of the Photograph is also the age of revolutions, contestations, assassinations, explosions, in short, of impatiences, of everything which denies ripening.”” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History is constructed memory; photography is fleeting testimony, both shaping modern consciousness. **In simple terms:** History is constructed; photography captures fleeting truth. Key Takeaway Recognize how media shapes perception of time. Themes memory media time perception Mood analytical critical Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - art history - philosophy Key Concepts historical narrative visual culture Questions to Reflect On - How does photography influence your sense of history? - Can constructed memory be trusted? A Different Perspective Photography can also preserve lasting cultural memory. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Impatience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impatience/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity/) [Paradox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [A paradox: the same century invented history and photography. But history is a memory fabricated according to positive formulas, a pure intellectual discourse which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-paradox-the-same-century-invented-history-and-photography-but/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“As the events of 2011 reveal, the age of revolutions is by no means over. The human imagination stubbornly refuses to die. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/as-the-events-of-2011-reveal-the-age-of-revolutions-is-by-no-means/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [ “The time of the photograph is \[always\] after. This imprecision accommodates the numerous successions, the end upon seismic end, in a time without time,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael/the-time-of-the-photograph-is-always-after-this-imprecision/) Nathanael > [Photography's history is bound to the mistake, to the accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taryn-simon/photography-s-history-is-bound-to-the-mistake-to-the-accident/) [Taryn Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taryn-simon/) > [I feel all things as dynamic events, being, changing, and interacting with each other in space and time even as I photograph them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynn-bullock/i-feel-all-things-as-dynamic-events-being-changing-and-interacting/) [Wynn Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynn-bullock/) > [“We are all part of the history of photography...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-erickson/we-are-all-part-of-the-history-of-photography/) Wendy Erickson > [I love the history of photography and one process has always replaced another. However, very, very few have disappeared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carter/i-love-the-history-of-photography-and-one-process-has-always-replaced/) [Keith Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carter/) > [The history of photography needs clearing out. It needs something else now. 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The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/) Nicolas Bourriaud > [One of those blocks (that prevent the 'Middle East from entering the mainstream of modernity') is the orthodox tenet that the Koran and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-beichman/one-of-those-blocks-that-prevent-the-middle-east-from-entering-the/) [Arnold Beichman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-beichman/) > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. 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The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A paradox: the same century invented History and PHotography. 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