DOCSLIB.ORG

Poetics of Subjectivity. Existence and Expressivity in Simone De

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Poetics of Subjectivity. Existence and Expressivity in Simone De Poetics of Subjectivity View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Existence and Expressivity in Simone de Beauvoir’s Philosophy Ulrika Björk Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki 21 Filosofisia tutkimuksia Helsingin yliopistosta Filsofiska studier från Helsingfors universitet Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki Publishers: Department of Philosophy Department of Social and Moral Philosophy P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 20A) FI-00014 University of Helsinki Finland Editors: Marjaana Kopperi Panu Raatikainen Petri Ylikoski Bernt Österman Poetics of Subjectivity Existence and Expressivity in Simone de Beauvoir’s Philosophy Ulrika Björk ISSN 1458-8331 (series) ISBN 978-952-10-5134-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-952-10-5135-7 (pdf) Helsinki 2008 Helsinki University Print Abstract In the last thirty years, primarily feminist scholars have drawn attention to and re-evaluated the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986). Her philosophical practice has been described as non-systematic, and her literary writing has been viewed as part of her non-systematic mode of philosophising. This dissertation radically deepens the question concerning Beauvoir’s philosophical motivations for turning to literature as a mode to express subjectivity. It explicates the central concepts of Beauvoir’s philosophy of existence, which are subjectivity, ambiguity, paradox and temporality, and their background in the modern traditions of existential philosophy and phenomenology. It also clarifies Beauvoir’s main reason to turn to literature in order to express subjectivity as both singular and universal: as a specific mode of communication, literature is able to make the universality of existence manifest in the concrete, singular and temporal texture of life. In addition, the thesis gives examples of how Beauvoir’s literary works contribute to an understanding of the complexity of subjectivity. I use the expression ‘poetics of subjectivity’to refer to the systematic relation between Beauvoir’s existential and pheno- menological notion of subjectivity and her literary works, and to her articulations of a creative mode of using language, especially in the novel. The thesis is divided into five chapters, of which the first three investigate Beauvoir’s philosophy of existence at the inter- section of the modern traditions of thought that began with René Descartes’and Søren Kierkegaard’s intuitions about subjectivity. Chapter 1 interprets Beauvoir’s notion of ambiguity, as compared to paradox, and argues that both determine her notion of existence. Chapters 2 and 3 investigate the phenomenological side of Beauvoir’s philosophy through a study of her response to early French interpretations of transcendental subjectivity, especially in the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. My analysis shows that Edmund Husserl’s distinction between different levels of subjective experience is central to Beauvoir’s understanding of subjectivity and to the different ego concepts she uses. Chapter 4 is a study of Beauvoir’s reflections on the expression of subjective thought, and, more specifically, her philosophical conceptions of the metaphysical novel and the autobiography as two modes of indirect communication. Chapter 5, finally, compares two modes of investigating concrete subjectivity; Beauvoir’s conceptual study of femininity in The Second Sex and her literary expression of subjectivity in the novel She Came to Stay. My analysis reveals and explicates Beauvoir’s original contribution to a comprehensive understanding of the becoming and paradox of human existence: the fundamental insight that these phenomena are sexed, historically as well as imaginatively. Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................... 11 List of abbreviations.......................................................................... 15 Introduction ................................................................................... 19 1. Existence and ambiguity .......................................................... 33 1.1 The truth of singular existence................................................ 34 1.2 The ethical meaning of ambiguity: intersubjectivity and becoming ........................................................................................ 40 1.3 Existence and subjectivity........................................................ 50 1.4 The paradox of existence ......................................................... 54 2. My lived subjectivity................................................................ 63 2.1 Two shifts of attitude............................................................... 65 2.2 Beauvoir on the ego ................................................................. 70 2.3 A defence of Sartre? ................................................................. 80 2.4 Husserl’s transcendental ego................................................... 89 3. The intentionality and temporality of subjective life........... 93 3.1 The intentionality of acts ......................................................... 95 3.2 Sense-experience, operative intentionality and the ego......... 99 3.3 Subjective and objective time .................................................109 3.4 Historically and singularly lived time...................................114 4. Existence and expressivity ......................................................125 4.1 Expression of subjective thought ...........................................129 4.2 Expressivity and inexpressivity .............................................135 4.3 Metaphysical experience and the metaphysical novel..........145 5. Becoming subjective................................................................157 5.1 Feminine becoming in The Second Sex....................................165 5.2 Real and imaginary femininity...............................................170 5.3 Françoise’s becoming in She Came to Stay..............................176 5.4 Love and independence..........................................................185 Conclusions...................................................................................197 Bibliography....................................................................................207 . at every moment I encounter the fact that the others’discourse being the origin of mine, as well as an unforeseeable future, gives it a continuing sense of its own limits. Here, one has the impression of experiencing a new rationality, in which a relationship to the unknown and to the unthought is at every moment reintroduced. Michèle Le Doeuff, The Philosophical Imaginary, p. 128 11 Acknowledgements A doctoral dissertation is a paradox. It has a singular signature, and yet is certainly an intersubjective accomplishment. Two persons deserve my gratitude more than any others: Docent Sara Heinämaa and Professor Jan von Plato at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Helsinki. I could not have written this work if it were not for my super- visor, Sara Heinämaa. She has guided me through the whole process, and provided me with possibilities beyond what I could imagine. I have done my best to learn from her intellectual sharpness, honesty, love and generosity. I am equally grateful to Jan von Plato for his formal responsibility for my project, for trusting me as a student, and––most of all––for requiring me to study French. This request was the entrance to a philosophical world and a country. At the very end of my studies I was lucky to get to know Docent Thomas Wallgren, present head of the Department of Philosophy in Helsinki. His support turned my last phase of writing (almost) into a joy. I also wish to thank Ilpo Halonen, Julia Honkasalo, Nora Hämäläinen, Auli Kaipainen, Joonas Leppänen and Bernt Österman for practical and administrative assistance at the department, especially in the final stages of completion. The department generously allowed me to have the manuscript language revised. Marlene Broemer’s insightful advice on style has definitely improved the content. I especially thank her and Annikki Harris for their admirable flexibility and encouragement last summer. I have appreciated the contacts with Arto Kilpiö, Kristiina Norlamo and Raija Oikari at the Faculty of Arts, as well as with Sirpa Pirttiperä, Raimo Nieminen and Kai Viertonen at Helsinki University Print. I wouldn’t like Helsinki as much as I do if it were not for Virpi Lehtinen, Rita Paqvalén and Laura Werner. A foreign student in Finland, I have enjoyed three homes in addition to my own, and three dear friends and colleagues. Thank you for sharing this very special task with me. In Helsinki, I have been part of what Edmund Husserl might have called a ‘personality of a higher order’or social subjectivity: a community of individual philosophers oriented towards feminist thinking. In addition to Sara Heinämaa, Virpi Lehtinen and Laura 12 Werner, I’m grateful to Martina Reuter and Johanna Oksala for inviting me to this (non-organised) movement of scholars. My second academic home has been the Department of Philosophy at Uppsala University. I’m grateful to Professor Lilli Alanen and Professor Sören Stenlund for inviting me there, and for their support of my work. I also thank head of the department, Docent Lars-Göran Johansson, and Lilli Alanen, for giving me the opportunity to teach, and Rysiek Sliwinski, head of studies, for joyful
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pride and Sexual Friendship: the Battle of the Sexes in Nietzsche's Post-Democratic World
    PRIDE AND SEXUAL FRIENDSHIP: THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES IN NIETZSCHE’S POST-DEMOCRATIC WORLD Lisa Fleck Uhlir Yancy, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2008 APPROVED: Steven Forde, Major Professor Ken Godwin, Committee Member Richard Ruderman, Committee Member Milan Reban, Committee Member James Meernik, Chair of the Department of Political Science Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Yancy, Lisa Fleck Uhlir, Pride and sexual friendship: The battle of the sexes in Nietzsche’s post-democratic world. Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science), August 2008, 191 pp., bibliography of 227 titles. This dissertation addresses an ignored [partly for its controversial nature] aspect of Nietzschean philosophy: that of the role of modern woman in the creation of a future horizon. Details of the effects of the Enlightenment, Christianity and democracy upon society are discussed, as well as effects on the individual, particularly woman. After this forward look at the changes anticipated by Nietzsche, the traditional roles of woman as the eternal feminine, wife and mother are debated. An argument for the necessity of a continuation of the battle of the sexes, and the struggle among men and women in a context of sexual love and friendship is given. This mutual affirmation must occur through the motivation of pride and not vanity. In conclusion, I argue that one possible avenue for change is a Nietzschean call for a modern revaluation of values by noble woman in conjugation with her warrior scholar to bring about the elevation of mankind.
    [Show full text]
  • WSRC3290 ASCP 2018 Conference Program FA.Indd
    AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY FOR CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018 AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY FOR CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018 ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY THANKS TO Western Sydney University would like to acknowledge the ≥ Professor Peter Hutchings, Dean of the School of Humanities Burramattagal people of the Darug tribe, who are the traditional and Communication Arts custodians of the land on which Western Sydney University at Jacinta Sassine and the student volunteers Parramatta stands. We respectfully acknowledge the Burramattagal ≥ people’s Ancestors and Elders, past and present and acknowledge ≥ Hannah Stark, Timothy Laurie and student volunteers their 60,000 year unceded occupation of these lands. who organized the PG event ≥ Panel organisers: Dr Suzi Adams and Dr Jeremy Smith; Professor WELCOME Thomas M. Besch; Professor Francesco Borghesi; Dr Sean Bowden; Associate Professor Diego Bubbio; Dr Millicent Churcher; Dr Richard The Conference Organising Committee for 2018 extends a warm Colledge; Dr Ingo Farin; Associate Professor Chris Fleming; Dr John welcome to all our international and Australian participants, and all Hadley; Professor Vanessa Lemm; Professor Li Zhi; Associate Professor others associated with the conference. The ASCP conference is this year hosted by Western Sydney University, at our new Parramatta David Macarthur; Associate Professor Sally Macarthur; Dr Jennifer City campus. The event has been planned and developed across Mensch; Professor Nick Mansfield; Dr Talia Morag; Associate Professor this year by members of the Philosophy Research Initiative. Eric S. Nelson; Professor Ping He; Dr Rebecca Hill; Associate Professor Janice Richardson and Dr Jon Rubin; Dr Marilyn Stendera; Dr Omid Tofighian; Professor Miguel Vatter and Dr Nicholas Heron; Dr Allison CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Weir; Dr Magdalena Zolkos.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Criticism and Theory
    MODC_C15.qxd 12/13/07 1:52 PM Page 280 15 Michel Foucault Introductory note Michel Foucault (1926–84) was, at the time of his death, Professor of the History of Systems of Thought at the Collège de France in Paris, a title that succeeds (or fails) as much as any other single phrase in the effort to encapsulate his unique, inter-disciplinary field of research. He has been variously described as philo- sopher, social scientist, and historian of ideas. He was certainly one of the most powerful and influential figures in a remarkable galaxy of intellectual stars who shone in Paris in the 1960s and 70s. Foucault was often at pains to deny that he was a ‘structuralist’, but he may legitimately be described as a post-structuralist. Structuralism ignored or dis- trusted the superficial appearances or commonsense view of cultural phenomena in its efforts to grasp the conditions of their possibility. Foucault did the same, but where the structuralists, like Lévi-Strauss, or the early Barthes, used language and linguistics as their methodological model or tool, Foucault used the history of social and political institutions and discourses. As one of his commentators (Paul Robinow) has said, ‘Foucault is highly suspicious of claims to universal truths. He doesn’t refute them; instead his consistent response is to historicize grand abstrac- tions.’ His example has had a powerful effect upon the writing of literary history in Britain and America. The essay ‘What is an Author?’ is typical of this historicizing approach. Foucault shows that the idea of the author, which we tend to take for granted, as a timeless, irreducible category, is, rather, a ‘function’ of discourse which has changed in the course of history.
    [Show full text]
  • How Ought We Live?
    How Ought We Live? The Ongoing Deconstruction of Our Values Mark Nielsen This thesis is submitted to the School of History and Philosophy at the University of New South Wales in fulfilment of the requirements of the PhD in Philosophy 2010 ii iii Dedication For Theresa and Charlotte. iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Paul Patton, for his generous support in assisting me in the creation of this thesis. I am particularly grateful for his patience and understanding in relation to the research method I have used. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor, Rosalyn Diprose, for her generous support. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Theresa, for her unwavering support over the years and for reminding me of what is important in life. v Table of Contents Title Page i Thesis/Dissertation Sheet ii Originality Statement, Copyright Statement and Authenticity Statement iii Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi Introduction: Horizontal Philosophy and the Construction of an Ethical Rhizome 1 Macro-Sociological Plateaus 1. The Salesman as Values Educator: A Lesson From a Primary School Teacher 25 2. Feeling Unhappy and Overweight: Overconsumption and the Escalation of Desire 38 3. The Politics of Greed: Trivial Domestic Democracy 52 Philosophical Plateaus 4. The Democratic Rise of the Problem of ―How Ought We Live?‖ 67 5. Living in the Land of Moriah: The Problem of ―How Ought We Sacrifice?‖ 80 6. Welcome to the Mobile Emergency Room: A Convergence Between Ethics and Triage 101 7. Diagnostic Trans-Evaluation and the Creation of New Priorities 111 8.
    [Show full text]
  • (RECENT) EPISTEMOLOGY Christian Beyer Edmund Husserl's
    CHAPTER ONE HUSSERL’S TRANSCENDENTAL PHENOMENOLOGY CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF (RECENT) EPISTEMOLOGY Christian Beyer Edmund Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology represents an epis- temological project which he sometimes refers to as “First Philosophy”. He also speaks of “Cartesian Meditations” and stresses that “the first philosophical act” is “the universal overthrow of all prior beliefs, however acquired” (Hua VIII, 23).1 This project aims at nothing less than a philo- sophical understanding of our whole view of the world and ourselves. I propose to investigate into this undertaking regarding both its method and content and to relate it, where useful, to more recent (analytic) epistemology. For Husserl, the task of First Philosophy is to philosophically explicate our access to, or being in, the world, i.e., the intentionality of our con- sciousness. By an intentional state of consciousness, an intentional (lived) experience, he understands a state of consciousness that has a subject matter which it is directed toward, so to speak (cp. the literal meaning of the Latin verb intendere); a state that is “as of ” something, represents something. It was Husserl’s teacher Franz Brentano who brought this notion to the attention of philosophers and psychologists. In his Psychol- ogy from an Empirical Standpoint he says: Every mental phenomenon is characterized by what the Scholastics of the Middle Ages called the intentional (or mental) inexistence of an object, and what we might call, though not wholly unambiguously, reference to a content, direction toward an object (which is not to be understood here as meaning a real thing [eine Realität]), or immanent objectivity.
    [Show full text]
  • Phenomenological Research Methods: Extensions of Husserl and Heidegger
    o cho l and f S C o o l g a n n i r t i u v e o J P International Journal of School and l s a y n ISSN: 2469-9837 c o h i t o a l o n r g e y t I n Cognitive Psychology Commentary Phenomenological Research Methods: Extensions of Husserl and Heidegger Effie Heotis* College of Arts and Sciences, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, USA ABSTRACT The relevance to understanding the lived experience and consciousness is the focus of a movement that began in the early part of the 20th Century. Phenomenology is a movement that explores the lived experience of a given phenomenon. Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger were two of the most prominent philosophers who spearheaded this movement and subsequently, they developed their own distinct philosophical approaches and methods of inquiry as means to exploring and understanding the human experience. Various and more distinctive psychological research approaches emerged in other disciplines from the philosophies of Husserl and Heidegger, and the researchers who developed these methods contribute to expanding repertoires aimed at understanding of the human experience. Keywords: Phenomenology; Phenomenological research methods; The lived experience; Husserl; Heidegger INTRODUCTION which are uniquely yet collectively designed to shed light on the human experience. Phenomenological research methods are grounded in the rich traditions of phenomenology and hermeneutics and especially Descriptive or Interpretive? the philosophical views of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Central to Husserl’s claim is that the essence of a Descriptive oriented phenomenological research methods phenomenon could be understood through an investigation and maintain that capturing a vivid and precise description description concerning core components of one’s experience concerning the perception of the lived experience can lead to while suspending suppositions [1,2].
    [Show full text]
  • Romantic Love, Absence and Jealousy in Roland Barthes’
    “ “Affective emotions”: Romantic love, absence and jealousy in Roland Barthes’ Fragments d’un discours amoureux Léonie A. J. Mol 5884780 rMA Cultural Analysis Final thesis Supervisor : J. G. C. de Bloois University of Amsterdam June 17, 2016 Table of contents Introduction: “Shimmerings”: Barthes, Romantic Love and Affect ....................................................... 3 Barthes, romantic love, affect .............................................................................................................. 3 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Organization of the thesis .................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter One: Love as absence .............................................................................................................. 16 The Discourse of the Absent: Barthes’ Analysis of Absence, Discourse and Love .......................... 17 Truth and Absence ............................................................................................................................. 19 The Knight of Resignation: Romantic Love as Self-Containment .................................................... 21 An Encounter between Me and the Other: Kierkegaard and Levinas ............................................... 23 Splendid Isolation and Absence .......................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8111 9 Simone De Beauvoir’S Groundbreaking Work Has Transformed the Way 20 We Think About Gender and Identity
    1111 2 SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8111 9 Simone de Beauvoir’s groundbreaking work has transformed the way 20 we think about gender and identity. Without her 1949 text The Second 1 Sex, gender theory as we know it today would be unthinkable. A leading 2 figure in French existentialism, Beauvoir’s concepts of ‘becoming 3 woman’ and of woman as absolute ‘Other’ are among the most influ- 4 ential ideas in feminist enquiry and debate. 5 This book guides the reader through the main areas of Simone de 6 Beauvoir’s thought, including: 7 8 • Existentialism and ethics 9 • Gender and feminism 30111 • Literature and autobiography 1 • Sexuality, the body and ageing 2 3 Drawing upon Beauvoir’s literary and theoretical texts, this is the 4 essential guidebook for those approaching the work of this key thinker 5 for the first time. 6 7 Ursula Tidd is a lecturer in French at the University of Manchester, 8 and the author of Simone de Beauvoir, Gender and Testimony (1999). 3911 ROUTLEDGE CRITICAL THINKERS Series Editor: Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway, University of London Routledge Critical Thinkers is a series of accessible introductions to key figures in contemporary critical thought. With a unique focus on historical and intellectual contexts, each volume examines a key theorist’s: • significance • motivation • key ideas and their sources • impact on other thinkers Concluding with extensively annotated guides to further reading, Routledge Critical Thinkers are the student’s passport to today’s most exciting critical thought.
    [Show full text]
  • Thinking with Simone De Beauvoir... and Beyond
    Articles: Thinking with Simone de Beauvoir... and beyond THINKING WITH SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR... AND BEYOND PENSANDO COM SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR… E PARA ALÉM DE ∗ Christine Daigle ABSTRACT In my article, I address what I perceive to be Beauvoir's fundamental preoccupation, namely ethics. Her ethical thinking is grounded in ontological and phenomenological considerations that allow her to think through interpersonal relations. Because this is what drives her philosophy, I consider her fundamental preoccupation to be ethical. The problem of alterity is one that Beauvoir seeks to address in her work. Discussing this, I engage with the question of its origin and the problem of influence between Sartre and Beauvoir. This leads me to an analysis of how Beauvoir tackles the problem of alterity in She Came to Stay . My claim is that the novel does not offer a theory of alterity and that only seeds of such a theory are to be found therein. Nonetheless, Beauvoir's thinking in the novel was influential on Sartre. But it can also be argued that the influence remains reciprocal. KEYWORDS: Beauvoir; Sartre; Ethics; Alterity; Ambiguity RESUMO Em meu artigo remeto ao que percebo ser a preocupação fundamental de Beauvoir, a ética. Seu pensamento ético está fundamentado em considerações ontológicas e fenomenológicas que lhe permitem pensar as relações interpessoais. Uma vez que é isso que impulsiona sua filosofia, considero que sua preocupação fundamental é ética. O problema da alteridade é um dos que Beauvoir busca abordar em sua obra. Discutindo isso, trato da questão da sua origem e do problema da influência com relação a Sartre e Beauvoir.
    [Show full text]
  • Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: a Feminist Critique of the Phenomenological Body
    American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations Student Research Spring 2021 Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: A Feminist Critique of the Phenomenological Body Jasmin M. Makhlouf The British University in Egypt, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, and the Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation APA Citation Makhlouf, J. M. (2021).Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: A Feminist Critique of the Phenomenological Body [Master's Thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1617 MLA Citation Makhlouf, Jasmin M.. Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: A Feminist Critique of the Phenomenological Body. 2021. American University in Cairo, Master's Thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1617 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: A Feminist Critique of the Phenomenological Body A Thesis Submitted to The Department of Philosophy In Partial Fulfilment to the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts By Jasmin Mohyeldin Makhlouf Under the supervision of Prof. Steffen Stelzer Spring 2021 Acknowledgments I wish to express my gratitude to Prof. Steffen Stelzer for his kindness, guidance, and encouragement to always examine the big phenomenological questions first.
    [Show full text]
  • French Theory
    FLUSSER STUDIES 31 Martha Schwendener Flusser and French Theory “Saussure did not impress me.”1 So wrote Flusser in the 1969 essay “In Search of Meaning (Philosoph- ical Self-portrait),” before he returned to Europe and settled for the last decades of his life in France. Rather than Francophone writers – and particularly Saussure, the linguist and figurehead of a strain of language philosophy that would guide French thought in the twentieth century – Flusser acknowledged a host of other thinkers: Kant, Camus, José Ortega y Gasset, Nietzsche, Cassirer, Cohen, Hartmann, the entire Marburg School, the Viennese School, Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger, Joyce, Pound, Eliot, Goethe, Thomas Mann, and particularly Kafka and Rilke. In other words, practically anything but French writers. However, the last two decades of Flusser’s life brought him in close con- tact with French thinkers, from Abraham Moles to Jean Baudrillard. Moreover, his increasing contact with German media theory and the U.S. art world, which was besotted with French “theory” (a desig- nation I will explain in a moment) were crucial to his legacy. Paradoxically, even though Flusser’s reception lagged in France, I would argue that his importance is in large part due to the avenues opened up by French theory and the “model” – one of Flusser’s favorite terms – for his own visionary thinking. First, French “theory.” Anaël Lejeune, Olivier Mignon, and Raphaël Pirenne write that French theory refers “roughly to the structuralist and post-structuralist thought that developed in France from the 1960s to the 1980s” and which should be differentiated from “French thought.”1 French theory, as opposed to French thought, offered a degree of heterogeneity and intellectual freedom – which is why it was largely adopted by radical thinkers, in the vein of Flusser.
    [Show full text]
  • By ROLAND BARTHES
    ROLAND BARTHES by ROLAND BARTHES , \) Translate^Jyy Richard Howard >!)• IP /i I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley • Los Angeles University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California Translation © 1977 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. \ Originally Published in French as Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes \ * © 1975 Éditions du Seuil \ All rights reserved Published by arrangement with Hill and Wing, a division of Farrar, Straus &_ Giroux, Inc. Printed in the United States of America First California printing, 1994 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barthes, Roland. [Roland Barthes. English] Roland Barthes /by Roland Barthes ; translated by Richard Howard, p. cm. ISBN 978-0-S20-08783-S I. Barthes, Roland. 2. Semiotics. 1. Title. P8S.B33A3 1994 MO'.92—dc20 [B] 94-7S4S CIP 08 07 10 9 8 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF). It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/ NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper). © My thanks to the friends who have kindly helped me in the preparation of this book: Jean-Louis Bouttes, Roland Havas, François Wahl, for the text; Jacques Azanza, Yousseff Baccouche, Isabelle Bardet, Alain Benchaya, Myriam de Ravignan, Denis Roche, for the pictures. ft must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel. j / To begin with, some images: they are the author's treat to himself, for finishing his book. His pleasure is a matter of fascination (and thereby quite selfish). I have kept only the images which enthrall me, without my knowing why (such ignorance is the very nature of fascination, and what I shall say about each image will never be anything but .
    [Show full text]