From Prague to Paris by Jose Merquior

From Prague to Paris by Jose Merquior

From Prague to Paris is above all a critique of French structuralism. But it is also an exercise in the wider history of ideas, showing that structuralism had already matured significantly prior to its adoption in France. Far from being a methodological high-road, the route from Prague in the 1930s to Paris in the 1960s was complicated by various ideological biases. Merquior argues that Parisian structuralism was notably formalist, and that this was not the only option open to it - as the work of the Prague School shows. J. G. Merquior was a participant in the intellectual milieu of Parisian structuralism during its rise, and here focuses on three key figures of its heyday: Levi-Strauss, Barthes and Derrida. The first remains the master of classical structuralism, the second its most distinguished apostle - and then apostate - in literary criticism, while Derrida currently leads the revolt against the rational elements of the philosophical tradition from which it springs. While its decline in France itself is now obvious, the (post-) structuralist style of thought has conquered influential strongholds in the Anglo-Saxon world. From Prague to Paris offers an assessment of its results that is at once scholarly and uninhibited - an irreverent but impeccably researched assault on the citadels of fashionable ideology. It will be useful to students and general readers alike, and no familiarity with the jargon of structuralism is assumed.

J G MERQUIOR, born in 1941, first trained in law and philosophy, studied literature at the Sorbonne and social theory at the London School of Economics. Once a visiting professor at King's College, London and in Brazil, his native country, he was for five years a member of Claude Levi-Strauss's seminar at the College de France. Several of his books deal with the history of French thought: Rousseau and Weber (London 1980), L'Esthetique de Levi-Strauss (Paris 1977), the Fontana Modern Masters Foucault (1985), Western Marxism (London 1986). He has also written extensively on Georges Sorel, Raymond Aron and the influence of Comte's positivism outside France. He is at present working in the philosophy of history, concentrating on the issue of the nature of modernity.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780860918608
ISBN 10	0860918602
Title	From Prague to Paris
Author	Jose Merquior
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Verso Books
Year published	1986-05-01
Number of pages	298
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.