See also Scott McLemee's take on François Cusset's French Theory:
The guiding question in Cusset’s book is, How did it come to pass that a group of French intellectuals who were seldom closely affiliated, pursued radically incompatible lines of thought, and were often quite passé at home turned by the mid-1980s into hotly coveted exports for the American intellectual market? Indeed, these thinkers were transformed into something like the various models of a single brand—repackaged, cross-promoted, and vended with the steep discounts made possible through economies of scale.
1 comment:
Hey, Richard. Thanks for the review. Much appreciated. For what it's worth, I don't think soul searching is the answer, either. I've put my bets on history and investigative journalism -- hence the 450 page book. I think I may have done a bad job with the salvation / deliverance metaphor at the end. "Deliverance" doesn't refer to soul searching, but rather, as in prophetic Judaism and in the black church, one's active role in one's own worldly liberation. I think history -- a correct diagnosis of one's condition, present and past -- is always the first, most important, and to me most interesting step. I've lots of respect for those who engage in soul searching, but that's not my calling. I prefer digging through archives.
Just a polite response. I really do appreciate the review, tremendously. Thank you for giving the book serious and fair consideration.
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