Philippe Artieres

In 1968, Michel Foucault agreed to a series of interviews with critic Claude Bonnefoy, which were to be published in book form. Bonnefoy wanted a dialogue with Foucault about his relationship to writing rather than about the content of his books. The project was abandoned, but a transcript of the initial interview survived and is published here. In this brief and lively exchange, Foucault reflects on how he approached the written word throughout his life, from his school days to his discovery of the pleasure of writing. Wide ranging, characteristically insightful, and unexpectedly autobiographical, the discussion sheds light on Foucault's intellectual development, his aims as a writer, his clinical methodology ("let's say I'm a diagnostician"), and his interest in other authors, including Raymond Roussel and Antonin Artaud. Foucault discloses, in ways he never had previously, details about his home life, his family history, and the profound sense of obligation he feels to the act of writing. Speech Begins after Death shows Foucault adopting a new language, an innovative autobiographical communication that is neither conversation nor monologue, and is one of his most personal statements about his life and writing.

In 1968, Michel Foucault agreed to a series of interviews with critic Claude Bonnefoy, which were to be published in book form. Bonnefoy wanted a dialogue with Foucault about his relationship to writing rather than about the content of his books. The project was abandoned, but a transcript of the initial interview survived and is published here. In this brief and lively exchange, Foucault reflects on how he approached the written word throughout his life, from his school days to his discovery of the pleasure of writing. Wide ranging, characteristically insightful, and unexpectedly autobiographical, the discussion sheds light on Foucault's intellectual development, his aims as a writer, his clinical methodology ("let's say I'm a diagnostician"), and his interest in other authors, including Raymond Roussel and Antonin Artaud. Foucault discloses, in ways he never had previously, details about his home life, his family history, and the profound sense of obligation he feels to the act of writing. Speech Begins after Death shows Foucault adopting a new language, an innovative autobiographical communication that is neither conversation nor monologue, and is one of his most personal statements about his life and writing.

Prendre au serieux l'idee de contemporaneite, faire se telescoper ce qui coexista et se risquer a produire un collage qui donnerait a voir, en un meme livre, les ecrits d'une carmelite et ceux de criminels, en un meme chapitre les lettres de menaces envoyees par d'anonymes anarchistes et les lettres d'intercession ecrites au front par les poilus, en une meme page les commentaires des theologiens et ceux des graphologues de l'affaire Dreyfus. Produire par ce montage une biographie collective d'un moment de notre histoire sociale et politique. Laiciser Therese pour montrer qu'elle fut certes la fille de saint Jean de la Croix et Therese d'Avila, mais egalement, le fruit de la societe francaise des lendemains de la Commune, le veritable monument de papier de la IIIe Republique. En suivant Therese au fil de ses petits papiers, c'est une vie de rien qui se devoile, une existence comme en dehors de l'histoire et qui pourtant va s'y inscrire par l'ecriture. La est sans doute le plus remarquable a plus d'un siecle de distance: l'extraordinaire destin de la figure de Therese Martin ne tient pas dans son exceptionnalite mais dans son caractere profondement ordinaire; elle apparait comme une passionnante figure pour comprendre l'histoire de l'ecriture depuis les annees 1880 jusqu'a aujourd'hui. C'est une plongee au milieu des archives minuscules, dans les boucles de l'ecriture de la jeune carmelite morte en 1897 que l'ouvrage nous propose, dressant un portrait polyphonique de la petite sainte.