History of Structuralism; The Rising Sign 1945 1966

by François Dosse

Structuralism has had a profound impact on disciplines ranging from literary theory to sociology, from history to psychoanalysis. Francois Dosse tells the story of structuralism's beginnings in postwar Paris to its culmination as a movement that would reconfigure French intellectual life and reverberate throughout the Western world. This essential guide is a cogent map of the dizzying array of personalities and ideas involved in the movement.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Theory, France

488 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

François Dosse is a French historian and philosopher who specializes in intellectual history. After devoting his doctoral thesis (1983) to the Annales School, Dosse turned his research interests to structuralism, the philosopher Paul Ricœur (his biography,Paul Ricœur. Les sens d'une vie (published in 1997), has become the standard authority) and the historian Michel de Certeau. François Dosse is one of the founders of the journal EspacesTemps. In 2007, he published Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari, biographie croisée (English trans. Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari: Intersecting Lives [2010]), where he advocated the rehabilitation of Guattari in an intellectual history that had made place only for Deleuze.
François Dosse is currently Professor of Contemporary History at the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres at Créteil.

Reviews

[Otávio Bogoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um trabalho denso de história intelectual do movimento estruturalista francês. Definitivamente não é um livro para iniciantes. Embora o autor até tente explicar resumidamente as idéias dos diversos intelecutais abordados, é fundamental que o leitor esteja ao familirizado com o trabalho de estruturalistas como Claude Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Foucault e Althusser, etc. Por diversas vezes tive que parar a leitura para consultar artigos e aulas sobre conceitos chave desses pensadores para poder acompanhar o livro.

Françis Dosse está mais preocupado em tratar das rivalidades, disputadas pelo espaço acadêmico francês e influências do contexto político da época do que em apresentar de forma didática as idéias estruturalistas. Com certeza terei que ler novamente no futuro. De qualquer forma, acredito que tenha conseguido ter uma ideia sobre o que significou o estruturalismo francês em um sentido mais amplo, e com certeza consigo enxergar suas influências no pensamento acadêmico brasileiro atual. Recomendo bastante!

[Sean James McLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ironic that structuralism -- the study of the ahistorical, or "synchronic," structures that supposedly underpin language, kinship systems, and other social phenomena -- enjoyed such a short history. Dosse's book shows how structuralism is a product of so many distinct personalities and events -- the very things that structuralism tends to suppress in the name of antihumanism and a static conception of history. Fortunately, Dosse manages to resist the temptation to commit the genetic fallacy. Still, I can't help but think that even the title, dry as it is, is meant to be taken as a tongue-in-cheek jab at structuralism -- the historian's revenge against an anthistoricist movement.

[Sébastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dumb and dumber. The author deserves a million dollars for painstakingly cataloging this idiotic academic movement that corroded higher education.

[Vladan Stojanović · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like reading an infinitely referential phone book that constantly goes in circles. It could use some trimming in inconsequential biographic details.