Category Archives: Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France

Indo-European Thought in Twentieth-Century France update 16: archive work in the UK and working around the British Library disruption

With the British Library still offline and so largely unusable, and without a trip to Paris this month, I’ve mainly been working at home, though with a few side trips to libraries and archives in the UK. SOAS has a special collections … Continue reading

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Travel, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Six degrees of T.S. Eliot – the links through Jean de Menasce to Émile Benveniste

Given how connected he was, I suppose it was only a matter of time before my Indo-European research project led me in the direction of T.S. Eliot. It came in the lead I was following with Jean de Menasce, who … Continue reading

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Indo-European Thought in Twentieth-Century France update 15: A first trip to the Paris archives since the spring and more archive work in the UK

I’m now back at work full time, though very grateful to be free of teaching and administrative duties, and I am feeling much better and more like myself. I was in Paris for two weeks this month, which was the … Continue reading

Posted in Alexandre Koyré, Aurel Stein, Emile Benveniste, Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Marcel Mauss, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

Indo-European Thought in Twentieth-Century France update 14: returning to work, tracking Benveniste’s teaching, and working with archives including the Aurel Stein collections in London

I have now been back at work for a few weeks, initially beginning half-time and gradually increasing what I can do. The support I have had from my department for a long period off work and a phased transition has … Continue reading

Posted in Aurel Stein, Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

On the trail of Aurel Stein – working in archives for the Indo-European thought project

The research for the Indo-European thought project has been difficult to confine to a solely French focus. I knew I wanted to begin what will probably be the first chapter with the story of the Mission Paul Pelliot, an expedition to Chinese … Continue reading

Posted in Aurel Stein, Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France | 5 Comments

Books received – Renou, Althusser, Safransky, Zumwalt, Woodard

Mainly bought second-hand for the Indo-European project, along with Sara Safransky, The City after Property: Abandonment and Repair in Postindustrial Detroit, sent by Duke University Press. The Rosemary LévyZumwalt book is the first part Franz Boas: The Emergence of the Anthropologist … Continue reading

Posted in Friedrich Nietzsche, Louis Althusser, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Uncategorized, urban/urbanisation | Leave a comment

Saussure’s notes on German legends – cross-references between the different editions of these manuscripts

I’ve previously discussed reading Ferdinand de Saussure’s work, mainly around the variant texts of his posthumously published Course on General Linguistics, and some of his early work on Indo-European languages. Saussure’s notes on German legends are one of the other major posthumous … Continue reading

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Books received – Milner, Lévi-Strauss, Lefebvre, Guattari, Saussure, Walters & Tazzioli

Some books for the Indo-European thought project, together with the copy of Musset Henri Lefebvre gave to Georges Bataille (more here) and William Walters and Martina Tazzioli (eds.), Handbook on Governmentality, in which I have a chapter on Foucault and … Continue reading

Posted in Claude Lévi-Strauss, Felix Guattari, Ferdinand de Saussure, Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Henri Lefebvre, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Michel Foucault | 4 Comments

“Indo-European Thought in Post-War France“, Warwick Seminar for Interdisciplinary French Studies, 31 May 2023 (video)

My talk to the Warwick Seminar for Interdisciplinary French Studies was recorded and is available online – “Indo-European Thought in Post-War France“ I begin with two stories – one about the Mission Paul Pelliot and its importance to the early … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Emile Benveniste, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Mircea Eliade, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

‘Indo-European Thought in Post-War France’, Warwick Seminar for Interdisciplinary French Studies, 31 May 2023, 4pm

Update: the recording is available here For anyone interested in my new project, I’ll be speaking about some of it in an online seminar today at 4pm: ‘Indo-European Thought in Post-War France’, Warwick Seminar for Interdisciplinary French Studies

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Mircea Eliade | Leave a comment