Conference Presentations by Francis D. Vigeant
At the junction of critical theory, social theory, and media studies, this paper examines the feu... more At the junction of critical theory, social theory, and media studies, this paper examines the feuilleton, i.e. a literary and journalistic form of essay closely linked to German Weimar Republic. The feuilleton is at once a site of sociological theorizing, of investigative reporting, and literary experimentation. The paper will reflect on the legacies of the feuilleton within the contemporary media landscape. It reflects on the society as a « Spiegelsaal » where the socio-political life tends to play the same role and functions as a 'mirror room' : a place where one looks at himself through the look of the other, and where in the end, there is a loss of the res and where there is only a publica/publikum. This special look into the other will lay its empiric foundation in Joseph Roth's 1926 Reise in Russland.
Caietele Echinox
In a sociological perspective, this communi- cation explores the artistic endeavour of an author ... more In a sociological perspective, this communi- cation explores the artistic endeavour of an author like Stefan Zweig who let the rethinking of new politics take place in his literary imaginary. The pacifist discourse is a particular characteristic of the stereotype he impersonates, the “dandy”, following the classification of the German sociologist Max Weber: this social order is a typical status for the fin-de-siècle Viennese poet whose work is deeply influenced by war, peace and the creation of a new society based on aesthetic and artistic creation. The pacifist discourse of Stefan Zweig is admittedly diffused by his numerous biographies and historical miniatures. This essay looks into biographical writing, the use of histor- ical miniature and Zweig’s abundant correspondence as matter of analysis of pacifist discourse.
Translations by Francis D. Vigeant
C’est dans le texte ici traduit qu’un des personnages parmi les plus connus du répertoire de Geor... more C’est dans le texte ici traduit qu’un des personnages parmi les plus connus du répertoire de Georg Simmel, la coquette, fait sa première véritable apparition. « Coquetterie » est publié en 1901 dans Jugend, un hebdomadaire destiné à un lectorat intellectuel, mais aussi à un public plus large ; il fait partie d’une série de miniatures à saveur littéraire que le sociologue fait paraître à cette époque. Simmel y met en scène un dialogue entre une femme et un philosophe qui, à travers l’écriture au « je », fait figure d’auteur du texte. Si nous retrouvons le thème de la coquetterie dans plusieurs textes de Simmel (1890, 1909, 1911 [1917], 1911 [1919]), c’est dans « Koketterie » que la coquette prend forme. Elle semble même sortir des pages du texte : nous l’imaginons, la voyons, piquée, demander une définition de la coquetterie au philosophe qui lui en fait le reproche. À la réponse du philosophe, la femme émet un habile commentaire qui évoque la coquetterie en tant que forme tout en indiquant ses contenus possibles. C’est dans ce texte littéraire, peut-être davantage que dans les textes plus « sociologiques » de Simmel, que la forme se présente à nous de la façon la plus limpide.
Eurostudia reproduit ici une traduction inédite de la Selbstanzeige de Robert Musil. Feignant de ... more Eurostudia reproduit ici une traduction inédite de la Selbstanzeige de Robert Musil. Feignant de répondre à un éditeur qui lui demanderait de présenter L’Homme sans qualités, l’auteur s’emploie à décrire son roman et choisit de dire ce qu’il n’est pas. Musil donne le titre Selbstanzeige au fruit de cet exercice fragmentaire qui, publié à titre posthume, se trouve dans l’édition en 9 volumes des Gesammelte Werke et fait partie des matériaux (1930-1942) relatifs au roman. Le titre allemand, ici traduit par « Annonce de l’auteur », a une double connotation : il évoque à la fois une auto-dénonciation, au sens de se livrer à la justice, et une annonce à des fins promotionnelles, ce qui fait de cette sorte de quatrième de couverture ex negativo le lieu où l’auteur annonce et dénonce son roman.
Barbara Thériault, Barbara Agnese, Hélène Heizman, Jürgen Heizmann, Elisabeth Tutschek, Marie-Michèle Blondin, Francis Douville Vigeant, « Feuilleton » [« Feuilleton » de Joseph Roth], Sociologie et sociétés, 2017, 49(1), p. 295-298. Ce que j'ai écrit ici est aussi un « feuilleton ». Voilà pourquoi je l'ai appelé ainsi tout en ay... more Ce que j'ai écrit ici est aussi un « feuilleton ». Voilà pourquoi je l'ai appelé ainsi tout en ayant exprimé des vérités, des choses importantes. J'y ai consacré un peu plus d'une heure.
Master's thesis by Francis D. Vigeant
Sociologie du dandysme : biographie sociologique de Stefan Zweig, 2017
The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) is one of the last European Empire to collapse with the e... more The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) is one of the last European Empire to collapse with the end of World War One. Tightly linked with internal conditions such as Austro-Hungarian politics and economics, the central theme of this work concerns the emergence of the social phenomenon of dandysm in Vienna at the beginning of the XX
th
century. Remarquably modern, the social figure of the dandy is studied following the ideal-typical method, a legacy of Max Weber. Following the sociological writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Robert Michels, the typical portrait of the four socio-economic figures such as the bourgeois, the proletarian, the bohemian and the aristocrat allows, in the first part of the thesis (chapter two), to show the features and to conceptually delineate the figure of the dandy. Once this portrait is forged, it is possible to compare the Viennese reality with the case of the poet Stefan Zweig. The appearance of the dandy, at the end of the Habsburg monarchy, is not alien to many external conditions that are themselves particularly linked to this first part of the XXth century, marked notably by nationalism and World War I. Discussed in the second part of the thesis (chapter three), the economic conditions, that are expressed with either literature or journalism, reflect this social phenomenalization in which the dandy takes part. The study of the social appearance of the dandy being at the very center of this study, the present thesis seeks to understand this phenomenon through a sociological biography of the writer and poet Stefan Zweig. In the fourth and fifth chapter, highlights of his biography meet its social resonance with dandysm through the man itself, his work, his life and the way he lived it. Finally, the influence of aesthetics and philosophy on dandy's life, especially following Friedrich Nietzsche's very own word and ideas, will be presented as well as the importance of values of pacifism and cosmopolitism, as influences of Jewish religion. In conclusion, I return to the ideal-type of dandy by questioning its usefulness in understanding contemporary phenomena.
Keywords
: Dandy, Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), Ideal type, Max Weber, Aesthetics, Vienna, Habsburg, Austrian-Hungarian Empire
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Conference Presentations by Francis D. Vigeant
Translations by Francis D. Vigeant
Master's thesis by Francis D. Vigeant
th
century. Remarquably modern, the social figure of the dandy is studied following the ideal-typical method, a legacy of Max Weber. Following the sociological writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Robert Michels, the typical portrait of the four socio-economic figures such as the bourgeois, the proletarian, the bohemian and the aristocrat allows, in the first part of the thesis (chapter two), to show the features and to conceptually delineate the figure of the dandy. Once this portrait is forged, it is possible to compare the Viennese reality with the case of the poet Stefan Zweig. The appearance of the dandy, at the end of the Habsburg monarchy, is not alien to many external conditions that are themselves particularly linked to this first part of the XXth century, marked notably by nationalism and World War I. Discussed in the second part of the thesis (chapter three), the economic conditions, that are expressed with either literature or journalism, reflect this social phenomenalization in which the dandy takes part. The study of the social appearance of the dandy being at the very center of this study, the present thesis seeks to understand this phenomenon through a sociological biography of the writer and poet Stefan Zweig. In the fourth and fifth chapter, highlights of his biography meet its social resonance with dandysm through the man itself, his work, his life and the way he lived it. Finally, the influence of aesthetics and philosophy on dandy's life, especially following Friedrich Nietzsche's very own word and ideas, will be presented as well as the importance of values of pacifism and cosmopolitism, as influences of Jewish religion. In conclusion, I return to the ideal-type of dandy by questioning its usefulness in understanding contemporary phenomena.
Keywords
: Dandy, Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), Ideal type, Max Weber, Aesthetics, Vienna, Habsburg, Austrian-Hungarian Empire
th
century. Remarquably modern, the social figure of the dandy is studied following the ideal-typical method, a legacy of Max Weber. Following the sociological writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Robert Michels, the typical portrait of the four socio-economic figures such as the bourgeois, the proletarian, the bohemian and the aristocrat allows, in the first part of the thesis (chapter two), to show the features and to conceptually delineate the figure of the dandy. Once this portrait is forged, it is possible to compare the Viennese reality with the case of the poet Stefan Zweig. The appearance of the dandy, at the end of the Habsburg monarchy, is not alien to many external conditions that are themselves particularly linked to this first part of the XXth century, marked notably by nationalism and World War I. Discussed in the second part of the thesis (chapter three), the economic conditions, that are expressed with either literature or journalism, reflect this social phenomenalization in which the dandy takes part. The study of the social appearance of the dandy being at the very center of this study, the present thesis seeks to understand this phenomenon through a sociological biography of the writer and poet Stefan Zweig. In the fourth and fifth chapter, highlights of his biography meet its social resonance with dandysm through the man itself, his work, his life and the way he lived it. Finally, the influence of aesthetics and philosophy on dandy's life, especially following Friedrich Nietzsche's very own word and ideas, will be presented as well as the importance of values of pacifism and cosmopolitism, as influences of Jewish religion. In conclusion, I return to the ideal-type of dandy by questioning its usefulness in understanding contemporary phenomena.
Keywords
: Dandy, Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), Ideal type, Max Weber, Aesthetics, Vienna, Habsburg, Austrian-Hungarian Empire