I sent some of this yesterday but it might not have gone through to
the list as I posted from another email address.
Even Foucault admits the word 'problematization' is a bit of a
mouthful! From 'What our present is" in Foucault Live p. 413
'I am going to use a barbarous word but words are only barbarous if
they do not clearly say what they mean; it is known that many words
are barbarous because they say many things at once or say nothing at
all, but, on the other hand, certain technical works which are
bizarre in their construction are not barbarous because they say
fairly clearly what they mean. I will say that it's the history of
problematizations, that is, the history of the way in which things
become a problem.'
There's a good definition of problematization in 'The Concern for
Truth' in Foucault Live, pp. 456-7. Here's a portion of Foucault's
discussion on the topic
'Problematization doesn't mean the representation of a pre-existent
object, nor the creation through discourse of an object that doesn't
exist. It's the set of discursive or nondiscursive practices that
makes something enter into the play of the true and false, and
reconstitutes it as an object for thought (whether in the form of
moral reflection, scientific knowledge, political analysis etc.)'
(translation slightly modified - I haven't had time to check original
properly)
Note the non discursive practices here.
--
Clare
************************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email: panopticon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.foucault.qut.edu.au
************************************************
the list as I posted from another email address.
Even Foucault admits the word 'problematization' is a bit of a
mouthful! From 'What our present is" in Foucault Live p. 413
'I am going to use a barbarous word but words are only barbarous if
they do not clearly say what they mean; it is known that many words
are barbarous because they say many things at once or say nothing at
all, but, on the other hand, certain technical works which are
bizarre in their construction are not barbarous because they say
fairly clearly what they mean. I will say that it's the history of
problematizations, that is, the history of the way in which things
become a problem.'
There's a good definition of problematization in 'The Concern for
Truth' in Foucault Live, pp. 456-7. Here's a portion of Foucault's
discussion on the topic
'Problematization doesn't mean the representation of a pre-existent
object, nor the creation through discourse of an object that doesn't
exist. It's the set of discursive or nondiscursive practices that
makes something enter into the play of the true and false, and
reconstitutes it as an object for thought (whether in the form of
moral reflection, scientific knowledge, political analysis etc.)'
(translation slightly modified - I haven't had time to check original
properly)
Note the non discursive practices here.
--
Clare
************************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email: panopticon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.foucault.qut.edu.au
************************************************