Category Archives: Books

Benveniste and the Linguistic Circle of Prague

Posted on January 19, 2025 by stuartelden

There are some good histories of the Linguistic Circle of Prague, which met in the years before the Second World War, and which included Russian scholars as well as ones from Czechoslovakia. Jindřich Toman’s The Magic of a Common Language is a particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Antoine Meillet, Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Roman Jakobson, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Foucault’s 1972 visit to Cornell University

Posted on January 12, 2025 by stuartelden

For his initial trips to the United States, Michel Foucault was often invited by French departments. His visits to SUNY Buffalo in 1970 and 1972, and the first of his multiple visits to the University of California, Berkeley in 1975 … Continue reading →

Posted in Daniel Defert, Foucault: The Birth of Power, Michel Foucault, Sunday Histories, The Archaeology of Foucault | 14 Comments

Lynne Huffer, “Order and Archive: A Foucault Abecedary”, boundary 2, 2024 and Instagram tiles

Posted on January 7, 2025 by stuartelden

Lynne Huffer’s extraordinary essay, “Order and Archive: A Foucault Abecedary“, boundary 2, Vol 51 No 4, 2024 (requires subscription unfortunately). Lynne is now on Instagram and has posted several tiles relating to this essay. It’s a review article of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Foucault's Last Decade, Foucault: The Birth of Power, Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Foucault, The Early Foucault | 1 Comment

Benveniste, Dumézil, Lejeune and the decipherment of Linear B

Posted on January 5, 2025 by stuartelden

In April 1956, at Gif-sur-Yvette just outside of Paris, the first meeting of the International Colloquium on Mycenaean texts took place. The proceedings of the conference, edited by Michel Lejeune, were published later that year as Études mycéniennes: Actes du Colloque international sur … Continue reading →

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Sunday Histories | 16 Comments

Books received – Grant, Littleton, François, Bowd & Clayton, Nobus, Ariès, Linear B and the Prague Linguistic Circle

Posted on January 4, 2025 by stuartelden

Some books received in recompense for review work… … and some second-hand ones – a couple by Philippe Ariès, some about the decipherment of Linear B, and about the Prague Linguistic Circle. Most of these relate in some way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Jacques Lacan, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Roman Jakobson | Leave a comment

Foucault’s Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2024 by stuartelden

I’ve shared this before, but was thinking again about Daniel Defert’s memories of Foucault’s working routines in this interview – ‘The Materiality of a Working Life‘ (open access; original French). No no, weekends didn’t exist! We would go to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Michel Foucault, The Early Foucault | Leave a comment

Indo-European Thought in Twentieth-Century France update 25: Benveniste’s teaching, a talk at St Andrews, Tzvetan Todorov, Roman Jakobson, and some archival work in Paris and Oxford

Posted on December 20, 2024 by stuartelden

I’m overdue an update on this project, but while I’ve been working hard, I haven’t felt there has been much to say until now. I’ve also had some further health problems, leading to another shorter stay in hospital and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexandre Koyré, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Emile Benveniste, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Michel Foucault, Roman Jakobson | 3 Comments

Georges Dumézil, Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty, translated by Derek Coltman, edited by Stuart Elden, afterword by Veena Das – HAU books, December 2024

Posted on December 17, 2024 by stuartelden

Georges Dumézil, Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty, translated by Derek Coltman, edited by Stuart Elden, afterword by Veena Das – HAU books, December 2024 The book is now available for sale, in print or e-book via … Continue reading →

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

Émile Benveniste, Problèmes de linguistique générale – Problems in General Linguistics and other English translations

Posted on December 3, 2024 by stuartelden

Émile Benveniste’s Problèmes de linguistique générale was published in two volumes in 1966 and 1974 by Gallimard, and later reprinted in the Tel series (volumes 1 and 2). The first volume brought together essays from 1939 to 1964, and was compiled … Continue reading →

Posted in Bartolus of Sassoferrato, Emile Benveniste, Ferdinand de Saussure, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Lynne Huffer, “Order and Archive: A Foucault Abecedary”, boundary 2, 2024

Posted on December 2, 2024 by stuartelden

Lynne Huffer’s extraordinary essay, “Order and Archive: A Foucault Abecedary“, has just been published in boundary 2, Vol 51 No 4, 2024 (requires subscription unfortunately). Update January 2025: Lynne is now on Instagram and has posted several tiles relating to … Continue reading →

Posted in Foucault's Last Decade, Foucault: The Birth of Power, Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Foucault, The Early Foucault | 1 Comment