Abstract

This chapter explores ways in which Roland Barthes's discussion of the encyclopaedia provides resources for thinking about education and research practice today. It begins with Barthes's analysis and critique of the Encyclopedie. Barthes, writing in 1964, engages with the Encyclopedie as an iconic product of its time, seeing it as conditioned by and, in effect, reinforcing a particular way of experiencing the world. The chapter considers ways in which a parallel critique is pertinent today and explores some current examples of encyclopaedic form in relation to education and educational research. It examines the interplay between particular cultural products and their society, in which not only certain types of knowledge but also certain conception knowledge are produced and reinforced. The chapter presents particular understanding of language and knowledge that arises through these cultural products, particularly with regard to educational inquiry.