The Century of French Intellectuals

Author: Michelle Vinocur
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: This chronicle of French intellectuals is less about the history of individuals, ideas, and works (though it is indeed that history) and more about the history of friendships, conflicts, or hatreds among these people. Looking back at the Dreyfus era, the Sartre era, and the era of Sartre, we are transported back to those eventful and turbulent years, and we also grasp their symbolic significance: we see the vivid, flesh-and-blood figures—both the main and supporting characters who have stepped onto the historical stage, all of whom tried to influence the century they lived in with their thoughts and actions. Through these vivid portrayals, the history of 20th-century France is presented to us, from the Dreyfus Affair, which marked the beginning of the era of symbolic intellectuals, to the death of Sartre and Aron, which rang the death knell for the century of intellectuals. However, Michelle Vinocur remains skeptical about her claim of the end of intellectuals.