p. 154 of LCP.
Thanks to Yves for the additional senses of trancher. The many senses at
play seem to relate quite well to the word _caedere_ - to cut, strike,
kill - but especially its use in such English words as incision, decision,
excision, etc.
'Cut' in English is Anglo-Saxon [cf. Norwegian kutte or Icelandic kuta],
whereas '-cision' words are Latin based. Caedere is doubtless the root of
many French words - ciseau [scissors], or ciseler [to chisel, engrave] as
two less obvious ones. The term caesura derives from it too. My French
etymological dictionary doesn't have trancher in it. Can anyone else add
something?
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Greg
Seppi
Sent: 03 December 2001 04:45
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: foucault-digest V2 #530
What page is it on in _Language, Counter-memory,
Practice_? Anyone know? I let one of my friends orrow
my Reader.
--- Stuart Elden <stuart.elden@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >The quote is from
> >Foucault, Michel. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy and
> history. In Paul
> >Rabinow (Ed.), the Foucault Reader. (pp. 76-100).
> New York: Pantheon
> >Books and specifically, page 88, where F is talking
> about effective
> >history. Perhaps Stuart Elden can provide a French
> original? Thanks
> >Stuart
>
> C'est que le savoir n'est pas fait pour comprendre,
> il est fait pour
> trancher.
>
> Dits et ecrits, Vol II, p. 148
>
> So the word in question is trancher, not couper.
> Trancher could mean cut in
> a violent sense - slitting a throat, cutting off a
> head [but in Foucault's
> phrase we need to cut - couper - the king's head
> off]. But trancher also has
> a sense of bringing to an end, concluding; tranche
> is a slice.
>
> But if read in the context of the discussion, it
> seems obvious that it is
> related to the discussion of discontinuity and the
> breaking up of seemingly
> seamless passages of history, the refusal of a solid
> centre around which
> history resolves.
>
> Hope that's useful in contextualising the remark.
>
> Stuart
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Buy the perfect holiday gifts at Yahoo! Shopping.
http://shopping.yahoo.com
Thanks to Yves for the additional senses of trancher. The many senses at
play seem to relate quite well to the word _caedere_ - to cut, strike,
kill - but especially its use in such English words as incision, decision,
excision, etc.
'Cut' in English is Anglo-Saxon [cf. Norwegian kutte or Icelandic kuta],
whereas '-cision' words are Latin based. Caedere is doubtless the root of
many French words - ciseau [scissors], or ciseler [to chisel, engrave] as
two less obvious ones. The term caesura derives from it too. My French
etymological dictionary doesn't have trancher in it. Can anyone else add
something?
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Greg
Seppi
Sent: 03 December 2001 04:45
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: foucault-digest V2 #530
What page is it on in _Language, Counter-memory,
Practice_? Anyone know? I let one of my friends orrow
my Reader.
--- Stuart Elden <stuart.elden@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >The quote is from
> >Foucault, Michel. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy and
> history. In Paul
> >Rabinow (Ed.), the Foucault Reader. (pp. 76-100).
> New York: Pantheon
> >Books and specifically, page 88, where F is talking
> about effective
> >history. Perhaps Stuart Elden can provide a French
> original? Thanks
> >Stuart
>
> C'est que le savoir n'est pas fait pour comprendre,
> il est fait pour
> trancher.
>
> Dits et ecrits, Vol II, p. 148
>
> So the word in question is trancher, not couper.
> Trancher could mean cut in
> a violent sense - slitting a throat, cutting off a
> head [but in Foucault's
> phrase we need to cut - couper - the king's head
> off]. But trancher also has
> a sense of bringing to an end, concluding; tranche
> is a slice.
>
> But if read in the context of the discussion, it
> seems obvious that it is
> related to the discussion of discontinuity and the
> breaking up of seemingly
> seamless passages of history, the refusal of a solid
> centre around which
> history resolves.
>
> Hope that's useful in contextualising the remark.
>
> Stuart
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Buy the perfect holiday gifts at Yahoo! Shopping.
http://shopping.yahoo.com