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Heterologies: Discourse on the Other (Theory and History of Literature)

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Michel de Certeau, who died in 1986, was one of France's leading intellectuals and considered by many to be one of the most brilliant and sensitive minds. A perfect example of the ideal interdisciplinary scholar, he studied and taught in the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, sociology, history, theology, and psychoanalysis. All these disciplines inform the essays of this volume.

First time readers of de Certeau will probably not want to start here, since the essays collected are on a variety of topics and in a variety of styles. "The Practice of Everyday Life" or "The Writing of History" might be better starting points (the former for anthropologists, perhaps, and the latter for historians).

Of course, despite their variety, these essays all reflect de Certeau's interests in ethics (along the lines of Levinas), theory (French post-structuralism), historiography, mysticism, speech, and politics (cultural studies). Broadly, there are a few essays on Freud and Lacan; a few on Foucault (of whom de Certeau is critical); one on "Mystical Speech"; and an excellent essay on history and ethical historiography. De Certeau assumes a familiarity with his subject matter, and individuals without the right background may find his already difficult language to be unmanageable. However, for those interested in French post-structuralism and looking for a perspective that shows the best of different academic disciplines (including a theological perspective -- de Certeau was a Jesuit), de Certeau is a wonderful find.

One might begin reading Michel de Certeau ("day sir-tow") with "How Is Christianity Thinkable Today?" (available in the Graham Ward-edited collection, The Postmodern God: A Theological Reader (Blackwell Readings in Modern Theology)) in order to set this key Christian thinker in his own time and place.

To sample the wide-ranging influence de Certeau had (and has), the The Certeau Reader (Blackwell Readers) introduces each of his several areas of study with an essay by a contemporary writer, followed by samples of de Certeau's own work in that area.

To read de Certau's work as published in his lifetime, one may turn to collections such as "Heterologies," which includes the complete translation of his essay on "Mystic Speech," a rare and telling piece on poetry, language, and making/finding space for "the other," including the divine. Other essays in "Heterologies," on Freud and literature, history and the psyche, may situate the reader in terrain more familiar to moderns.