Intimate Revolt: The Powers and Limits of Psychoanalysis (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) - Softcover

Kristeva, Julia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 023111415X ISBN 13: 9780231114158

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Julia Kristeva, herself a product of the famous May '68 Paris student uprising, has long been fascinated by the concept of rebellion and revolution. Psychoanalysts believe that rebellion guarantees our independence and creative capacities, but is revolution still possible? Confronted with the culture of entertainment, can we build and nurture a culture of revolt, in the etymological and Proustian sense of the word: an unveiling, a return, a displacement, a reconstruction of the past, of memory, of meaning? In the first part of the book, Kristeva examines the manner in which three of the most unsettling modern writers―Aragon, Sartre, and Barthes―affirm their personal rebellion.

In the second part of the book, Kristeva ponders the future of rebellion. She maintains that the "new world order" is not favorable to revolt. "What can we revolt against if power is vacant and values corrupt?" she asks. Not only is political revolt mired in compromise among parties whose differences are less and less obvious, but an essential component of European culture―a culture of doubt and criticism―is losing its moral and aesthetic impact.

About this title

Book Description:

A thorough examination of the manner in which three of the most unsettling modern writers―Aragon, Sartre, and Barthes―affirm their personal rebellion followed by Kristeva's own ideas on the future of rebellion.

About the Author:

Julia Kristeva is a practicing psychoanalyst and professor of linguistics at the University of Paris. She is the author of many acclaimed books, including, most recently, Hannah Arendt and Melanie Klein. She lives in Paris.Jeanine Herman is a translator who lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 023111415X
• ISBN 13: 9780231114158
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 392