Pratiques et censures du rire et de la comédie en Grèce ancienne

A travers l'étude de Platon, Aristote et Plutarque, cet article s'interroge sur les origines du préjugé défavorable à la comédie et au rire, qu ‘on retrouve dans la philosophie ancienne comme dans les travaux de ses commentateurs. Il semble en particulier que la conception du rire comme une manifestation de la mania—la folie dionysiaque—ait isolé les auteurs comiques et les comédiens au sein de la cité classique. Mais en insistant sur le caractère ridicule et laid de la comédie, les philosophes cherchent surtout à en minimiser la portée : en fait, la comédie offre une vision sans complaisance de la cité, et c'est cet aspect subversif qui suscite les attaques et justifie qu'on la considère, enfin, comme un sujet d'étude à part entière.     

L'ethno‐histoire et sa méthode. Etude de quelques pratiques ludiques et festives en Castille

Ce travail tente de présenter quelques possibilités intéressantes pouvant naître de la collaboration entre l'ethnologie et l'histoire, cela à partir d'une étude concrète de comportements festifs et ludiques, représentatifs de la Castille, et plus exactement d'un vaste espace correspondant approximativement à la limite sud de l'actuelle Communauté Autonome de Castille et León. L'analyse commence par les informations documentaires les plus caractéristiques de la fin du Moyen‐Age et du début de l'époque Moderne. Ces données sont complétées par les résultats obtenus postérieurement au cours d'un travail sur le terrain dans la zone de Cuéllar, région où les références des documents sont les plus nombreuses et les plus explicites. Tout cela sert de base à certaines réflexions méthodologiques sur les avantages que peut apporter l'éviction de critères d'analyse conventionnels qui établissent trop souvent une frontière et une séparation excessive et étroite entre les deux disciplines.     

Information, institutions et temporalité quelques remarques critiques sur l'usage de la nouvelle économie de l'information en histoire

The paper reviews the main «applications» to economic history of neo-institutionalist and game theories. The analysis of labor, land and credit markets as well as their implications for the theory of development are equally discussed. The author then discusses the main game theories, their hypotheses and assertions in order to elucidate their historiographical uses. The last part of the paper introduces more complex notions of rationality, while distinguishing between information and learning; it finally suggests an heuristic scheme able to integrate certain elements of the economy of information and games into historical notions of time.     

Rêves et visions dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum de Jean de San Gimignano

Dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum, Jean de San Gimignano consacre le septième livre aux produits de l’imagination, et plus particulièrement aux visions et aux rêves. Il y développe une réflexion qui vise à montrer à ses lecteurs supposés, en premier lieu aux prédicateurs, de quelles manières ceux-ci peuvent trouver leur place dans un sermon. L’article étudie comment le dominicain italien a envisagé l’utilisation des rêves bibliques et de leur interprétation à des fins homilétiques ainsi que l’attitude somme toute ambiguë de l’auteur du Liber de exemplis à l’égard des traités d’oniromancie.     

Comment sortir du ‘terrorisme’? La violence politique et les conditions de sa disparition en France et en République Fédérale d'Allemagne en comparaison 1970–années 1990

Research on political violence and terrorism is usually focused on the origins and the dynamics of violence. This article attempts to overcome the neglect of ways of leaving terrorism. One important hypothesis of this article is that terrorism should be understood as a strategy of communication. How did states and societies face the ‘communicative challenge’ posed by terrorism? This question will be applied to the cases of left-wing terrorism in 1970s and 1980s West Germany and France. In the 1970s, in West Germany, a political dialogue with the left-wing group RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion) seemed to be impossible, whereas in France violent groups engaged with the wider public through public communication. By this way an escalation of violence could be avoided, but in the 1980s French terrorist groups such as Action Directe modelled themselves on the West German RAF: as a consequence, any communication with the state or society was interrupted. At the same time, in West Germany, the question of whether a dialogue with the RAF should be started was at the core of public discussion. Some stated that it would be the only possibility to make them give up, while others rejected any idea of communicating with terrorists. The West German and French cases show us that the communicational situation, especially the degree of integration of the concerned left-wing groups in public discourse, had an important impact on the outcome of violence.     

Experts en Sciences Mathématiques et Projets Impériaux sous le Règne de Kangxi

In 1713 the Kangxi emperor commissioned the compilation of a treatise on mathematics, astronomy, and harmonics. For this project, he recruited literati, selecting them by special examination and closely supervising their work. Only two of them went on to have careers as high officials. In the middle of the 18th century, mathematics began to be taught at the Imperial University. Thus the Qing dynasty established the transmission of a degree of expertise in this field as part of the training of certain literati who aimed at a civil service career.     

Spectres,monstres et fantômes: Les Chants de Maldoror et le spectacle de la fantasmagorie

As an introduction to his show in the Capucins' convent, Etienne Robertson states, "Gentlemen, the spectacle about to take place under your very eyes is not a frivolous one. It was created for the thinking man, for the philosopher who enjoys wandering among the tombs" (qtd. in Remise 41). The nineteenth century, and Robertson in particular, grant phantasmagoria a large place in history, even though the concept and the technique existed long before.

With such a success, it should not be surprising that phantasmagoria found its home in literature, especially in Isidore Ducasse's (Comte de Lautréamont's) texts. Indeed, Maldoror's Cantos, in which visual effects hold a significant place, seem to occur behind a thick fog that the reader appears to have difficulty escaping. Just as the spectacles of phantasmagoria are not meant for a "frivolous" audience, as Robertson said, the Cantos are not meant for a reader whom Lautréamont defines as "naive." This article will focus on the visual arts that were prevalent at the time and their influence on the Cantos. Using Roland Barthes's theory, the author shows that Maldoror's Cantos can be read as a spectacle of phantasmagoria in writing.     

Violencia y género en Los comendadores de Córdoba de Lope de Vega

This article studies the correct generic framing of an early work of Lope de Vega,Los comendadores de Córdoba, which has attracted recent criticism, in part because the structure of tragedy is undermined by numerous laughable and grotesque elements. It therefore seems to be a play characterized by failure to follow the path of a specific genre. This article tries to overcome this problem by studying the relationship between gender and violence.     

Critique du signe et de la representation de rousseau a aujourd'hui∗

It has come to be increasingly recognized that The Prince fails to offer a viable and practical guide to successful political action. Violent force provides Machiavelli's theory with the only even tentative form of purposive action he can theoretically sustain. In violence, elements of the action itself seem to appear as consequences, thus restoring a semblance of connection between deliberate action and outcomes. As a result, successful political action becomes less a question of examples and precepts than a matter of improvisational daring, a kind of action that arises directly from the immediate situation itself. In this connection, Machiavelli's representation of Cesare Borgia serves as an inspirational example of the improvisatory prince. In the final analysis, action per se emerges as the only rival to fortuna. Impetuosity replaces skill and wisdom, meeting the capriciousness of fortuna with a form of action equally riotous. This seems less discouraging from the perspective of the theory once we recognize that Machiavelli's point of view has shifted from that of an imagined individual prince to the interests of the political field of action itself. From there, it is action itself that sustains the possibility of politics.