Language, Counter Memory, Practice

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Compilation
Review: Among Foucault anthologies, Bouchard's "Language, Counter-Memory, Practice" is certainly a very good one. Where "Power/Knowledge," is concerned with the political concerns and implications of Foucault's later work and "The Foucault Effect" is concerned with the application of Foucault's later work to contemporary studies of governmentality, "Language, Counter-Memory, and Practice" gives the reader a look at an assortment of some of Foucault's earlier ideas. Scholarly attention to Foucault's genealogies have often obscured his work on language, literature, and the interconnections of theory and practice, but many of those ideas are all preserved here in "Language, Counter-Memory, Practice."

You won't find, here, many of the ideas that Foucault has become famous for--the mutual presupposition of power and knowledge is about as close as we get to any of his more developed theses. However, Part I (Language) provides an excellent resource for those (deeply) interested in post-structuralist literary theory. Part II (Counter-Memory) contains three of Foucault's most important works. "What Is an Author?" has become a classic within both literary and philosophical academic circles; "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History," provides an interesting overview of Foucault's general historical methodology; "Theatricum Philosophicum," is a crucial contribution to the ongoing dialogue between Foucault's thought and Gilles Deleuze's thought.

Part III is perhaps a bit less rigorous than the first two parts, but it is equally resourceful. "History of Systems of Thought" covers many of the themes developed more fully in "Archaeology of Knowledge;" "Intellectuals and Power" is probably the most straightforward text on post-structuralist understandings of the interconnections of theory and practice ever written; "Revolutionary Action..." provides an interesting peek at Foucault's politics.

This book isn't perfect for a beginner, because it takes some previous knowledge to understand how all of the various ideas here tie together, but the content is there, and it can be pieced together by anyone with a little bit of prior knowledge on Foucault. For those of you who are looking to solidify and fill out your knowledge of Foucault's thought, get this book. This compilation has revolutionary implications for the study of politics, language, philosophy, literature, and history, and this compilation provides an excellent understanding how these implications co-exist within Foucault's general thought.

Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Compilation
Review: Among Foucault anthologies, Bouchard's "Language, Counter-Memory, Practice" is certainly a very good one. Where "Power/Knowledge," is concerned with the political concerns and implications of Foucault's later work and "The Foucault Effect" is concerned with the application of Foucault's later work to contemporary studies of governmentality, "Language, Counter-Memory, and Practice" gives the reader a look at an assortment of some of Foucault's earlier ideas. Scholarly attention to Foucault's genealogies have often obscured his work on language, literature, and the interconnections of theory and practice, but many of those ideas are all preserved here in "Language, Counter-Memory, Practice."

You won't find, here, many of the ideas that Foucault has become famous for--the mutual presupposition of power and knowledge is about as close as we get to any of his more developed theses. However, Part I (Language) provides an excellent resource for those (deeply) interested in post-structuralist literary theory. Part II (Counter-Memory) contains three of Foucault's most important works. "What Is an Author?" has become a classic within both literary and philosophical academic circles; "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History," provides an interesting overview of Foucault's general historical methodology; "Theatricum Philosophicum," is a crucial contribution to the ongoing dialogue between Foucault's thought and Gilles Deleuze's thought.

Part III is perhaps a bit less rigorous than the first two parts, but it is equally resourceful. "History of Systems of Thought" covers many of the themes developed more fully in "Archaeology of Knowledge;" "Intellectuals and Power" is probably the most straightforward text on post-structuralist understandings of the interconnections of theory and practice ever written; "Revolutionary Action..." provides an interesting peek at Foucault's politics.

This book isn't perfect for a beginner, because it takes some previous knowledge to understand how all of the various ideas here tie together, but the content is there, and it can be pieced together by anyone with a little bit of prior knowledge on Foucault. For those of you who are looking to solidify and fill out your knowledge of Foucault's thought, get this book. This compilation has revolutionary implications for the study of politics, language, philosophy, literature, and history, and this compilation provides an excellent understanding how these implications co-exist within Foucault's general thought.

Highly recommended!