Table Of Content
FIFfY KEY CONTEMPORARY
THINKERS
In thisbook, John Lechte focusesboth on the development of structuralist theory
and on key thinkers opposed to this tendency. For the specialist and the general
readeralike,itisanindispensable reference book on thiscentury'smost important
intellectual revolution. In each ofthe fiftyentries, John Lechte skilfullyilluminates
complex thought with unusual clarity. He also provides comprehensive biblio
graphical information and suggestionsfor further reading.
From earlystructuralism, FiftyKey Contemporary Thinkers guidesusthrough post
structuralism, semiotics, post-Marxism and Annales history, on to modernity and
postmodernity. It includes chapters on Bakhtin, Freud, Bourdieu, Chomsky,
Derrida, Lacan, Kristeva, Saussure, Irigaray and Kafka among others. Literary
figureswho have changed the waylanguage isconceived are considered, together
withphilosophers, linguists,socialtheorists, feminists and historians.
Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers shows that thought in the twentieth century
emphasises the relational dimension of existence rather than an essential dimen
sion.This kind ofthought leads on to nihilism,but alsoto the point where nihilism
mightbe overcome. In explaining newdevelopments inliterature, art and philoso
phy,John Lechte helps readers to achieve a more profound understanding of the
underpinnings of post-war thought and culture.
JohnLechte, a former student of Julia Kristeva, teaches social theory and the
sociologyofrepresentationatMacquarie University,Australia. He hasalsoworked
in the fields of history, semiotics and politics, and has an abiding interest in
psychoanalysis.He has taught and published widely on many aspects of modem
thought.
FIFTY KEY
CONTEMPORARY
THINKERS
From structuralism to postmodernity
John Lechte
London and New York
First published 1994
by Routledge
11New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USAand Canada
byRoutledge
29 West35th Street, New York,NY 10001
Reprinted 1995(twice),1996 and1998
© 1994JohnLechte
Typeset inTimes by
Florencetype Limited, Stoodleigh, Devon
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
T. J. International Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized inany form or by anyelectronic, mechanical, or other means,
nowknown or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or inany information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Acatalogue record for this book isavailable from the British Library
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Acatalogue record for this book isavailable from the Library ofCongress
ISBN0-415-05727-2 (hbk)
ISBN0-415-07408-8 (pbk)
To the memory ofmy grandmothers who valued education
Carolyn Lechte (1885-1978)
Muriel Garner (1896-1979)
CONTENTS
ix
PREFACE
xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1
EARLY STRUCTURALISM
3
Bachelard
7
Bakhtin
12
Canguilhem
16
Cavailles
20
Freud
24
Mauss
28
Merleau-Ponty
35
STRUCTURALISM
37
Althusser
42
Benveniste
45
Bourdieu
49
Chomsky
54
Dumezil
58
Genette
62
Jakobson
66
Lacan
71
Levi-Strauss
77
Metz
82
Serres
87
STRUCTURALHISTORY
89
Braudel
95
POST-STRUCTURALISTTHOUGHT
97
Bataille
101
Deleuze
105
Derrida
110
Foucault
115
Levinas
vii
CONTENTS
SEMIOTICS 121
Barthes 123
Eco 127
Greimas 131
Hjelmslev 136
Kristeva 141
Peirce 144
Saussure 148
Todorov 153
SECOND GENERATIONFEMINISM 159
Irigaray 161
Le Doeuff 165
Pateman 169
POST-MARXISM 175
Adomo 177
Arendt 181
Habermas 186
Laclau 191
Touraine 195
MODERNITY 201
Benjamin 203
Blanchot 207
Joyce 212
Nietzsche 216
Simmel 221
Sollers 225
POSTMODERNITY 231
Baudrillard 233
Duras 237
Kafka 242
Lyotard 246
viii
PREFACE
This book followsthe very admirable model provided by Diane Collinson's Fifty
Major Philosophers (1987). Thus I offer the reader both an overview of each
thinker's work together with biographical information. Like Ms Collinson, I also
aim to introduce, sometimes in a fairly detailed way,one or more aspects of the
oeuvre inquestion, andparticularly asthisrelates tothat aspectofthought inspired
bystructuralism. And I often engagewith that thought - differ withit, or appreci
ate itsinsights.Myhope isthat the readerwillgeta real sense ofthe flavour,style,
and, inmany cases,the truly innovative character ofthe thought in question.
Mytask,however,wasboth easier andmore difficultthan DianeCollinson's,for
whileI didnot have to treat the entire historyofthe Western canon ofphilosophy
in writingmy entries,I had to choose fiftycontemporary thinkers. And although,
of course, one can debate about who should be in the philosophy canon, there is
lessdoubt about the fact that a canon has been extraordinarily influential,even to
the point where people are speaking Plato, Hobbes or Sartre without knowing it.
Tosomeextent, then, Diane Collinson'staskwastomake explicitformsofthought
whichhavealreadyformed us.Mytask,bycontrast, hasbeen to distilkeyelements
in the work of thinkers who are sometimes not yet widely known, but who are
becomingso.Mostpeople willatleasthaveheard ofPlato;but willtheyhaveheard
ofSaussure? Most willknow that idealismislocated somewhere in Plato's philos
ophy; but do they know that 'difference' is a key notion in Saussure? Clearly, I
believethat the answer is'no' in both cases.
Itisnot onlythe general reader's knowledgethat I am actuallyalludingto here,
but also my own.For the contrast that I am trying to bring out is that between a
relatively stable canon with which I am familiar, if not in detail, and a series of
thinkers whose thought isoften stillevolving,both because many are stillwriting
and thus have not completed their work,and because, bydefinition,itisnot possi
ble to have a deep familiarity with thought that is essentially contemporary and
innovative. In other words, whether I have chosen the most important or illumi
nating angleon the thinkers inquestion willbe,and should be, acausefor debate.
In response to this difficulty, my wageron behalf of the reader is that the light
that I do shine on the thought I have explicated isan informed one, but that even
ifit turns out to be but one possiblewayofunderstanding the thinker in question,
this isstillinformative and educative in the sense that I intend. And this sense is
that to (be able to) disagree withme isto understand me.
What ofthe choice of thinkers,however? Here, the subtitle of the book should
ix
