Guy Debord [Hardcover]

Anselm Jappe (Author), Donald Nicholson-Smith (Translator), T. J. Clark (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520212045 | ISBN-13: 978-0520212046 | Publication Date: August 5, 1999 | Edition: 1

This is the first serious intellectual biography of Guy Debord, prime mover of the Situationist International (1957-1972) and author of The Society of the Spectacle, perhaps the seminal book of May 1968 in France. Anselm Jappe rejects recent attempts to set Debord up as a "postmodern" icon, arguing that he was a social theorist in the Hegelian-Marxist tradition--not a precursor of Jean Baudrillard but an heir of the young Georg Lukács of History and Class Consciousness (1923). Neither hagiographical nor sectarian, Guy Debord places its subject squarely in his historical context: the politicizing Letterist and Situationist "anti-artists" who, in the European aftermath of World War II, sought to criticize and transcend the Surrealist legacy. The book offers a lively, critical, and unusually reliable account of Debord's "last avant-garde" on its way from radical bohemianism to revolutionary theory. Jappe also discusses Debord's films, which are largely inaccessible at present. This English language edition of the book has been revised by the author and features an updated critical bibliography of Debord and the Situationists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A clear-headed account [and quoting TLS, 10/4/96 review of French edition), 'far and away the best we have so far.'" -- Times Literary Supplement

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520212045
• ISBN-13: 978-0520212046
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,505,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars demise of public space, October 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Guy Debord (Paperback)

With a variety of historical references and cultural events to offer a sound foundation for the events thwarted and formulated by Debord, Jappe constructs an informative synopsis of the development of the situationalists. The transformative evolution from the LI (Letterist International) to the SI (Situationalist International)is explored, as are multiple situations which gained both groups recognition by intellectual circles. Well referenced, well written.

20 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why bother?, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guy Debord (Paperback)

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