I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals… — Roland Barthes

I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.

In the original French

Je crois que l’automobile est aujourd'hui l'équivalent assez exact des grandes cathédrales gothiques : je veux dire une grande création d'époque, conçue passionnément par des artistes inconnus, consommée dans son image, sinon dans son usage, par un peuple entier qui s'approprie en elle un objet parfaitement magique.

1957
★ 1.7
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Barthes, Roland. "La nouvelle Citroën." Mythologies. Seuil, 1957.

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