The differend: Phrases in dispute

by Jean-François Lyotard, Georges Van Den Abbeele (Translator)

English, French (translation)

Genres: Philosophy, Theory, History, Politics, 20th Century, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jean-François Lyotard (DrE, Literature, University of Paris X, 1971) was a French philosopher and literary theorist. He is well-known for his articulation of postmodernism after the late 1970s and for his analysis of the impact of postmodernity on the human condition.

He went to primary school at the Paris Lycées Buffon and Louis-le-Grand and later began studying philosophy at the Sorbonne. After graduation, in 1950, he took a position teaching philosophy in Constantine in French East Algeria. He married twice: in 1948 to Andrée May, with whom he had two daughters, and for a second time in 1993 to the mother of his son, who was born in 1986.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Lyotard, and it is still probably one of the best works of his that I have read. Lyotard uses Wittgenstein to develop a postmodern theory of language and the incommensurable character of language and language games. The theory takes on the enlightenment tendencies in Habermas' critical theory and Gadamer's hermeneutics. Well thought out, well constructed, and written to achieve a clarity in argumentation that is a refreshing contrast to Derrida and/or Heidegger and that particular strain of philosophical discourse.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't help but think that this text leans to much on an inter-textual approach to philosophy. Also, his work is extremely fascinating in several ways - like the way he describes the Differend as finding idioms for thoughts that do not necessarily fit into our current lexicon... and that finding idioms for new thoughts constitutes the goal of philosophy... albeit this notion of philosophy tends to be a bit too 'linguistical' in its approach, I think the overall point is that discourse can be an inadequate way to approach the truth as well, but language, even though it is faulty, is really the only tool philosophers have to say anything meaningful at this point.

[Alex Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the more important book of Lyotard. Lyotard is known for introducing the term postmodernism. With the differend he takes this idea to an extreme, naming the incompossibility of terms to coexist within the same frame. This is not an easy book to read, as he examines many different philosophies and trains of thought.

I do think this book could be made shorter. The small vignette format he offers gives us an idea of the fracture that comes with differends, as he explores the instability of meaning, identity and ultimately noting that the navigation of differends is political -- that often the meanings are carried by the forms things take rather than the actual arguments they offer.

If you like post-structuralist texts and want to sink your teeth into a difficult book this is one way to go as he offers much room for exploring how often different meanings with the terms they have do not align properly, leaving us with gaps in communication, and differends to contend with.

[Kev Nickells · Rating 5 out of 5]

More books. I've re-read Libidinal Economy and yarked on about it endlessly but I should've gone back to this earlier. It's JF at his most lucid, clear, but also at his most incisive; a careful, close and deliberate rendering of how arguments pass, operate, how disagreement is motivated and articulated. It should probably be read in the way Wittgenstein is and it's as imperative to thinking about understanding under logocentrism (and possibly also postmodernism) as little Jacky Derrida, but nothing like as impenetrable. I'm not very close to the academy but it's a shame that Deleuze and Jacky are so well known but JF sits outside as 'the postmodernism guy'. There's a lot of discussion of the ways in which Auschwitz is not only a tragedy for its time but continues to be in effect now (at the time of writing and the now-now).

I'm looking forward to going back to this soon and you should probably have a go if linguistics, justice, ethics and morality are things you're interested in.

kthxbai

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review published in The French Review 63.4 (1990): 722-723.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"No comments. The selection done for the purposes of quoting is already outrageous" (Lyotard, 67).

[Derek Kern · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is incoherent...