Key research themes
1. How has French critical theory reexamined and transformed the practice and concept of critique in literary and cultural studies?
This research theme investigates the evolution of critique as a methodological and theoretical practice within French critical theory, tracing its genealogy, reassessments, and the emergence of postcritical or alternative modes of interpretation. It matters because it reflects broader shifts in humanities scholarship about the limits and possibilities of critique as a tool for cultural analysis, revealing tensions between suspicion, empowerment, and artistic or political engagement.
2. In what ways have French theorists integrated cybernetics and information theory into the development of French theory and structuralism?
This research explores the intellectual cross-pollination between early cybernetic science, information theory, and French postwar theory, especially structuralism. It matters because it recontextualizes French theory as partly shaped by technological and scientific discourses around communication and control, revealing surprising origins of key structuralist concepts and their evolution, which influence contemporary critiques of knowledge and power.
3. How have French theorists engaged with politics and power, particularly in postwar contexts such as colonialism, psychiatry, and social movements?
This theme addresses French theory's sustained concern with political power, repression, and emancipation, especially through analyses of historical and social institutions like psychiatry, colonial Algeria, and political upheavals post-1968. These works matter for understanding how criticism is historically embedded and how theoretical concepts like power, subjectivity, and social reproduction emerged in relation to concrete political struggles and intellectual responses within French contexts.