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Mikko Tuhkanen's provocative and comprehensive study of the work of Leo Bersani deserves the status of a decisive and paradigm-shifting event in the field of critical theory. Bersani's work, which has evolved over a period of over fifty years, emerges as something like a Trojan Horse within the hegemonic camp of critical theory for which only difference and alterity are positive and mobile. Tukhanen draws out and in so doing sharpens Bersani's consistent call for a radical re-assessment of precisely those concepts and values connoted as negative, redundant, static, or even politically and ethically dangerous in the broad orthodoxy of critical theory: sameness, essence, narcissism, the speculative. Tuhkanen shows adeptly, through a series of engagements with Bersani's preferred critical objects -- Baudelaire, Freud, Proust, Beckett, Jean Laplanche, to name only those most prominent -- how Bersani, the "essentialist villain," has wielded the critical armory of essence against, but also within, the domain of what is construed as a pervasive ontology of loss, lack, and trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "Aby Warburg and the Image in Motion," by Philippe Michaud.

Reviews the book "After the Deluge: New Perspectives on the Intellectual and Cultural History of Postwar France," edited by Julian Bourg.

Camus, J.‐Y., and Monzat, R., Les droites nationales et radicales en France (Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1992), 526pp., 120F., ISBN 2 7297 0416 7 Castelain‐Meunier, C., Cramponnez‐ vous, les pères! (Albin Michel, 1992), 213pp., 98F., ISBN 2 226 05856 7 Claval, P., ed., Autour de Vidal de la Blache: la formation de l'école française de géographie (CNRS, Memoires et Documents de Géographie, 1992), 160pp., 220F., ISBN 2 222 04740 4 DATAR, Livre blanc du bassin parisien (La Documentation Française, 1992), 135pp., 110F., ISBN 2 11 087205 5 Debré, M., Gouverner Autrement (Albin Michel, 1993), 396pp., 160F., ISBN 2 226 06207 6 Direction de l'évaluation et de la prospective, L'Etat de l'école (Ministère de l'éducation nationale et de la culture, 1992), 75pp., 80F., ISSN 1152 5088 Domergue, G., and Lamoine, G., eds., Après 89: La Révolution, modèle ou repoussoir (Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 1991), 298pp., 150F., ISBN 2 85816 169 0 Durand, J.‐P., éd., Les congregations et l'Etat. Avant‐propos de J‐C. Masclet. Présentation de P. Valdrini (La Documentation Française, 1992), 139pp., 75F., ISBN 2 11 002857 2 Enckell, M., ed., Moi, Clément Duval, bagnard et anarchiste (Les Éditions Ouvrières, 1991), 255pp., 125F., ISBN 2 7082 2915 X Farchy, J., Le cinéma déchaîné (Presses du CNRS, 1992), 352pp., 145F., ISBN 2 87682 063 3 Forest, P., Philippe Sollers (Editions du Seuil, 1992), 140F., ISBN 2 02 017336 0 Gaspard, F., Servan‐Schreiber, C., Le Gall, A., Au pouvoir, citoyennes! (Seuil, 1992), 185pp., 89F., ISBN 2 02 017360 3 Gavi, P., Les Français du coq à l'âme (Plon, 1992), 309pp., 120F., ISBN 2 259 02460 2 Harouel, J‐L., L'Embellissement des villes. L'urbanisme français au XVIIIe siècle (Picard, 1993), 336pp., 350F., ISBN 2 7084 0433 4 Hayne, M.B., The French Foreign Office and the Origins of the First World War, 1898–1914 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993), 328pp., £35.00, ISBN 019 820270 9 Hay ward, J., After the French Revolution. Six Critics of Democracy and Nationalism (Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1991), 366pp., £40 (hbk), £12.95 (pbk), ISBN 0 7450 0235 8 Hollifield, J.F. and Ross, G. eds., Searching for the New France (Routledge, 1991), 332pp., £9.99, ISBN 0 415 90250 9 Kelly, M., Hegel in France (Birmingham Modern Languages Publications, 1992), 115pp., £14.00, ISBNO 7044 1197 0 Kerby, A.P., Narrative and the Self (Open University Press, 1992), 141pp., £16.99, ISBN 025 333143 9 Kesler, J‐F., De la Gauche dissidente au nouveau Parti socialiste. Les minorités qui ont rénové le PS (Bibliothèque historique Privat, 1990), 471pp., 198F., ISBN 2 7089 5354 0 Lambert, P.P., and Le Marec, G., eds, Organisations, mouvements et unités de l'état français. Vichy 1940–1944 (Jacques Grancher, 1992), 267pp., 150F. Latariet, B., L'Aménagement culturel du territoire (La Documentation Française, 1992), 127pp., 95F., ISBN 2 11 002767 3, ISSN 1152–4928 Laurens, J.‐P., 1 sur 500, La réussite scolaire en milieu populaire (Toulouse, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 1992), 259pp., 130F., ISBN 2 85816 175 5 Leduc, J., Histoire de la France: l'enracinement de la Republique 1879–1918 (Hachette, 1991), 238pp., ISBN 2 01 015853 9 Lipovetsky, G., Le Crépuscule du devoir. L'éthique indolore des nouveaux temps démocratiques (Gallimard, 1992), 296pp., 120F., ISBN 2 07 072821 8 Lodge, R.A., French: from dialect to standard (Routledge, 1993), 285pp., £10.99, ISBN 0 415 08071 1, pbk McPhee, P., The Politics of Rural Life; Political Mobilization in the French Countryside, 1846–1852 (Clarendon Press, 1992), 310pp., ISBN 0 19 820225 3 Mandon, D., Culture et changement social. Approche anthropologique (Chronique sociale, 1990), 200pp., 120F., ISBN 2 85008 133 7 Monod, J., and De Castelbajac, P., L'Aménagement da territoire 7th edn., (Presses Universitaires de France, 1993), 126pp., 40F., ISBN 2 13 045298 1 Morin, E., and Kern, A.B., Terre‐Patrie (Seuil, 1993), 217pp., 120F., ISBN 2 02 012653 2 Nettelbeck, C.W., Forever French ‐Exile in the United States 1939–1945 (Berg French Studies, 1991), 204pp., £29.50, ISBN 0 85496 632 3 Northcutt, W., Mitterrand: A Political Biography (Holmes and Meier, 1993), 366pp., £35.00, ISBN 0 8419 1295 5 Ragon, M., La voie libertaire (Pion, 1991), 221pp., 140F., ISBN 2 259 02402 5 Revel, J‐F., L'Absolutisme inefficace, ou Contre le présidentialisme à la française (Pion, 1992), 190pp., 95F., ISBN 2 259 02478 5 Rigby, B., Popular Culture in Modern France. A Study of Cultural Discourse (Routledge, 1991), 228pp., £35.00 hbk, £10.99 pbk, ISBN 0 415 01247 3 Robbins, D., The Work of Pierre Bourdieu (Open University Press, 1991), 220pp., £12.99, ISBN 0335 099270 Roussel, L., La Famille Incertaine (Seuil, 1989), 334pp., 48F., ISBN 2 02 015180 4 Sallenave, D., Passages de l'Est (Gallimard, 1992), 329pp., 100F., ISBN 2070728293 Sanders, Carol, ed., French Today. Language in its Social Context (Cambridge University Press, 1993), 323pp. + xiii., £45 hbk, £14.95 pbk, ISBN 0 521 39505 4 (hbk), 0 521 39695 6 (pbk) Sarup, M., Jacques Lacan (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992), 204pp., £9.95, ISBN 0 7450 0638 8 Schalk, D., War and the Ivory Tower: Algeria and Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 1991), 258pp., £19.50, ISBN 0 19 506807 6 Stevens, M., ed., Alfred Sisley (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1992), 300pp., £35 hbk, £19.95 pbk. ISBN 0 300 05244 8; 0 300 05245 6 respectively Szarka, J., Business in France (Pitman, 1992), 254pp., £16.99, ISBN 0 273 03630 0 Tacet, D., Un monde sans paysans (Hachette, 1992), 175pp., 89F., ISBN 2 010 19325 3 Taddei, D. and Coriat, B., Made in France: l'industrie française dans la compétition mondiale (Librairie générale française, 1993), 470pp., ISBN 2 253 06322 3 Tournier, M., Le Crépuscule des masques (Hoëbecke, 1992), 188pp., 156.75F, ISBN 2 905 29233 4 Troyat, H., Aliocha (Flammarion, 1991), 192pp., 89F., ISBN 2 08 066591 X Virard, M‐P., Comment Mitterrand a découvert l'économie (Albin Michel, 1993), 263pp., 98F., ISBN 0 0000 0000 0 Westfall, G. D., French Colonial Africa: A Guide to Official Sources (Hans Zell, 1992), 226pp., £40.00, ISBN 1 873836 60 0 Wetherill, M., Promt: du côté de chez Swann (University of Glasgow, 1992), 116pp., ISBN 0 852 61370 9 Wieviorka, M., et al., La France raciste (Seuil, 1992), 394pp., 130F., ISBN 2 020 12568 4 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reviews the book "The Perverse Art of Reading: On the Phantasmatic Semiology in Roland Barthes’ ‘Cours au Colle`ge de France,’" by Kris Pint, number 353 in the Faux titre book series.

A review of the book "Jacques Rancière: History, Politics, Aesthetics," edited by Gabriel Rockhill and Philip Watts is presented.

Reviews the book "Laclau: A Critical Reader," edited by Simon Critchley and Oliver Marchart.

Reviews the book 'Roger Laporte: The Orphic Text,' by Ian Maclachlan.

Reviews the book 'Modern European Thinkers: Georges Bataille: A Critical Introduction,' by Benjamin Noys.

Reviews the book 'Georges Bataille and the Mysticism of Sin,' by Peter Tracey Connor.

Reviews the book `Julia Kristeva: Speaking the Unspeakable,' by Anne-Marie Smith.

Reviews the book `The Girard Reader,' edited by James G. Williams.

Reviews the book `Maurice Blanchot et le deplacement d'Orphee,' by Chantal Michel.

Reviews the book `Histoire de Tel Quel 1960-1982,' by Philippe Forest.

The article reviews the book "Cinepoetry: Imaginary Cinemas in French Poetry," by Christophe Wall-Romana, part of the "Verbal Arts: Studies in Poetics" book series.

A review of the book "Mortal Subjects: Passions of the Soul in Late 20th-Century French Thought," by Christina Howells is presented.

The article presents an excerpt from the July 2010 issue of "French Studies" that presents a review of the book "The Dismembered Community: Bataille, Blanchot, Leiris, and the Remains of Laure," by Milo Sweedler.