Foucault News

Gálvez Aguirre, Javier. “The Composition of History: a Critical Point of View of Michel Foucault’s Archaeology.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 20.4 (2018):

DOI:10.7771/1481-4374.3359

Abstract:
In “The Composition of History: a Critical Point of View of Michel Foucault’s Archaeology” Javier Gálvez discusses a very specific aspect within the work of Foucault: the role of the philosophies of history in the composition of historical discourse. The philosophies of history of pre-revolutionary Europe were able to show a discursive continuity that does not tally with the discontinuities that are sought in Foucault’s archaeological and genealogical project. The question that is asked following the analyses of these discourses does not fully escape from the analyses of the knowledge-power apparatuses: how is it possible that the practical-political nature of the philosophy of history discourses has remained effectively silenced in political practice? After elucidating a barely bounded concept of “history” in Foucault from the discontinuities of the epistemological fields of “Order” and “History,” the indecision of this rupture in philosophical-historical discourse will be shown, taking Turgot and Vico as examples.

Daniele Lorenzini
Benjamin/Foucault : histoire, discontinuité, utopie, Phantasia, Volume 7 – 2018

Résumé
Cet article se propose de montrer qu’un dialogue « à distance » entre Benjamin et Foucault peut être construit à partir d’au moins trois thèmes. Premièrement, leur conception du moment présent, ou plus précisément, du rapport vertical que le présent institue avec le passé, et donc leur intérêt non pas tant pour une histoire des discontinuités, mais pour une vision de l’histoire comme discontinuité, dont la portée est explicitement éthico-politique. Deuxièmement, leur attention pour les – et leur volonté de donner voix aux – opprimés et aux infâmes. Troisièmement, leur vision hétérotopique ou contre-utopique de l’histoire, qui définit l’attitude messianique ou critico-expérimentale de l’historien-philosophe dont ils parlent. Nous soutenons enfin que Benjamin et Foucault ont choisi l’un et l’autre d’écrire l’histoire de façon telle qu’elle puisse produire des effets réels dans le présent, en équipant les lecteurs d’armes en vue de leur lutte contre l’oppression.

Index de mots-clés : Benjamin – Foucault – histoire – discontinuité – utopie – événement – révolution

Abstract
This paper aims to show that a dialogue “at a distance” between Benjamin and Foucault can be constructed starting from at least three themes. First, their conception of the present moment, or more precisely, of the vertical relation that the present establishes with the past, and therefore their interest not so much in a history of discontinuities, but in a concept of history as discontinuity, whose value is explicitly ethical and political. Second, their attention for – and their willingness to give voice to – the oppressed and the infamous. Third, their heterotopic or counter-utopic way of conceiving of history, which defines the messianic or critico-experimental attitude of the historian-philosopher they talk about. Finally, I argue that both Benjamin and Foucault chose to write history in a way that allows to produce real effects in the present, providing the readers with weapons they can use in their fight against oppression.

Index by keyword : Benjamin – Foucault – history – discontinuity – utopia – event – revolution