Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises History

This is interesting. Because I seem to remember that the way Veyne
describes "pastoral" power in this essay is totally at odds with Foucault's
own usage, as developed in the 1977-8 lectures ('Security, Territory,
Population') --viz. Veyne ascribes a pastoral logic to the practices of
pre-Christian Roman emperors, whereas for Foucault pastoralism was precisely
absent in the Greek and Roman contexts (he makes a big deal out of this in
the 1977-8 lectures).

So perhaps Veyne published the essay earlier in 1978, before having a chance
to take account of the latest developments in F's conceptual terminology.

Apart from describing pastoral power in terms totally incompatible with F's,
however, I've always thought Veyne's essay was a really great one,
especially for helping students to grasp the specificity and brilliance of
F's method. And yet I am often hesitant to assign it on account of the
confusion that could result with respect to their divergent usage of this
important term. This difficulty can of course be overcome if one takes the
time to explain this one point of difficulty to students in advance.

Regards,
Nate

On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Kevin Turner <kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Hi Fouad, and thanks for the information.
>
> Actually, looking through the essay again, Veyne references both "Society
> Must be Defended" and "The History of Sexuality" which make it clear that
> the text could not have been written in 1971.
>
> Thanks once again,
> Kevin.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: fkalouche@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 04:54:50 -0500
> > To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises History
> >
> >
> > Kevin,
> >
> > The discrepancy in dates may be related to the fact that Veyne's book:
> > Comment on écrit l'histoire: Essai d'épistémologie was initially
> > published in 1971 and then republished a few times in new editions that
> > included "Foucault révolutionne l'histoire." Naissance de la biopolitique
> > refers to a 1979 edition of Comment on écrit l'histoire published in
> > Seuil's "Points - histoire" series, where "Foucault révolutionne
> > l'histoire" is cited on pages 227-230 (see endnote 4 of the lesson of
> > January 10, 1979, p. 26). However, in the author's list of publications
> > ("Du même auteur") at the end of the latest book of Veyne on
> > Foucault--Foucault: sa pensée, sa personne, Albin Michel, 2008, only two
> > editions are mentioned: the 1971 orginal publication and the 1996 edition
> > in Seuil's "Points - histoire" series.
> >
> > Furthermore, in his new book menioned above, Veyne refers to a 1978 date
> > for his essay on Foucault ("Foucault révolutionne l'histoire"). See page
> > 28, footnote 2.
> >
> > I do not know if this helps.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Fouad Kalouche
> >
> >> Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 00:43:10 -0800> From: kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxx> To:
> >> foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises
> >> History> > Can anybody tell me when this essay by Paul Veyne was
> >> originally written?> > In a text I'm reading it states that it was
> >> written in 1978. In the text itself it also says 1978. But on the
> >> copyright page in A. I. Davidson's edited collection (Foucault and his
> >> Interlocutors), it states that it was written in 1971.> > Regards,>
> >> Kevin.> > _______________________________________________> Foucault-L
> >> mailing list
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--
Nathaniel Roberts
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Columbia University
-and-
Part Time Faculty Member
Department of Anthropology
The New School for Social Research
Folow-ups
  • Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises History
    • From: Chetan Vemuri
  • Replies
    [Foucault-L] Foucault and Epictetus, Chetan Vemuri
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises History, Fouad Kalouche
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault Revolutionises History, Kevin Turner
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