Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought

Description

This wide-ranging guide to twentieth-century French thought reflects current research, including all of the major disciplines, such as philosophy, literary theory, sociology, linguistics, political thought, and theology. The Encyclopedia's approximately 240 entries fall into two categories: those on individuals (which make up the bulk of the book) and those on themes, concepts, and historical background. The entries on individuals provide a clear and informative account of a thinker's ideas, influence, and critical reception. The articles emphasize the relationship between such ideas and the social, historical, and cultural life of modern France, and each includes a separate paragraph of biographical information, a list of selected works, and suggestions for further reading. The more thematic entries cover specific disciplines, such as anthropology, historiography, and psychology; theories, beliefs and methodologies, such as Catholicism, feminism, and Marxism; the arts; historical, political, social, and intellectual context; and other key subjects, such as freedom, language, media, and society. The Encyclopedia also contains a detailed chronology, identifying key intellectual, literary, cultural, and historical events, largely French but with international counterpoints.