Jean-Francois Lyotard

Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) was one of the most important French philosophers of the Twentieth Century. He was the author of classic philosophical texts such as Discourse, Figure; Libidinal Economy; The Differendand The Postmodern Condition: a report on knowledge. Kiff Bamford is Reader in Contemporary Art in the School of Art, Architecture and Design, Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is author of ‘Lyotard and the figural in Performance, Art and Writing' (Bloomsbury, 2012) and 'Jean-François Lyotard: Critical Lives' (2017).

• prelimspreface1. Introduction by Kiff Bamford2. ‘Slowly, tenderly’ by Philippe Bonnefis, Emory University, 19983. ‘Letter to Jean-François Lyotard from Gilles Deleuze’, undated (c. 1976)4. ‘On Theory: An interview’ with Brigite Devismes VH 101, 1970 5. ‘Doing away with the illusion of politics’ with Gilbert Lascault, La Quinzaine littéraire, 1972 6. ‘Remarks on Jean-François Lyotard’ by Gilles Deleuze, La Quinzaine littéraire, 19727. ‘The ‘intensities’ are what imports, not the meaning’ with Christian Descamps, La Quinzaine littéraire, 19758. Joint letter by Jean-François Lyotard and Gilles Deleuze: ‘Concerning the Vincennes Psychoanalysis Department’, Les Temps Modernes, 19749. ‘A ‘Barbarian’ speaks about Socialism’ with Bernard-Henri Levy, Le Nouvel Observateur, 197610. ‘Incommensurable narrations’ with Patrick de Haas, Art Press International, 197711. ‘Will Vincennes survive?’ with Christian Descamps, La Quinzaine littéraire, 1980 12. Debate on ‘Discussions, or: phrasing “after Auschwitz”’ with Jacques Derrida; Jean-Luc Nancy; Jacob Rogozinski et al. Les fins de l’homme : À partir du travail de Jacques Derrida, 198013. ‘In reading your work ...’ with Geoges Van Den Abbeele; including the short text ‘Decor’ by Jean-François Lyotard, Diacritics, 198414. ‘Philosophy: the case for the defence’ with Jacques Derrida, Le Monde, 1984. 15. ‘Les Immatériaux’ with Jacques Saur and Philippe Bidaine, CNAC magazine, March 198516. ‘Les Immatériaux’ with Bernard Blistène, Flash Art, 198517. ‘Chrysalide’s little narratives’ with Élie Théofilakis, From Modernes et Après : Les Immatériaux, 1985 18. ‘Otherwise than knowledge’ Debate with Emmanuel Levinas at the Centre Sèvres, From Autrement que Savoir, Paris, 198619. ‘The Enlightement, the Sublime: philosophy and aesthetics’ with Willem van Reijen and Dick Veerman, 1987, Les Cahiers de Philosophie20. ‘Lyotard and Vidal-Naquet talking about the Algerian war still’ with Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Libération, 198921. ‘Before the Law, After the Law’ with Elisabeth Weber, 1991, From Questioning Judaism: Interviews by Elisabeth Weber22. ‘What is Justice?’ with Richard Kearney, 1994, From States of Mind: Dialogues with Contemporary Thinkers23. ‘Responding Questions’ Interview with Eberhard Gruber, 1995, From The Hyphen: Between Judaism and Christianity24. ‘The real extreme’ with Gérald Sfez, Rue Descartes, 1995 25. ‘La Vie de Malraux (Malraux’s life) must be read as a collection of legends’ with Philippe Bonnefis, Magazine littéraire, 1996notesbibliographyindex

[T]his is a book to accompany the reading of Lyotard’s work, and, as such, it is not a minor accompaniment, but a full and enriching one.