Telos · 1983 · 105 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesLinguisticsPhilosophyContinental PhilosophyHistoriographyModern PhilosophyContextualismStructural InterpretationFoucauldian TheoryStructuralist Criticism
The interview explores the unclear origins of post‑structuralism, noting that structuralists themselves were uncertain about the term’s meaning beyond precise disciplines. The interview aims to reconsider and possibly redefine the concept of structuralism. The abstract begins with the question, “How should we begin?”.
Abstract RAULET: How should we begin? I have had two questions in mind. First, what is the origin of this global term, "post-structuralism"? FOUCAULT: First, none of the protagonists in the structuralist movement — and none of those who, willingly or otherwise, were dubbed structuralists — knew very clearly what it was all about. Certainly, those who were applying structural methods in very precise disciplines such as linguistics and comparative mythology knew what was structuralism, but as soon as one strayed from these very precise disciplines, nobody knew exactly what it was. I am not sure how interesting it would be to attempt a redefinition of what was known, at the time, as structuralism.