The Certeau Reader

This volume brings together, for the first time, a variety of texts from Certeau′s book and journal publications which have proved important in the various disciplines where Certeau has had an influence. The Reader as a whole reflects the interdisciplinary nature of Certeau′s work which draws on history, historiography, psychology, politics, philosophy, semiotics, ethnography, and theology to shape a critique of cultures past and present. Some essays have been translated especially for this collection. All of them have been chosen to provide accessible texts suited for introducing readers to the work of this key twentieth–century thinker. Five specific areas are considered: history, sociology, politics, cultural and religious studies, and five leading scholars, each of whom employ Certeau′s work in these distinct disciplines, introduce the sections. An introduction by Graham Ward outlines Certeau′s biography and places his work within the cultural context of his time, both in terms of French Catholicism and contemporary intellectual debates. It examines the major preoccupations of Certeau′s work – with the Other, with spatiality, with colonialism, with the body, with discourse and oppression – and locates them within the overall development of his thinking. Finally, Ward discusses the impact of Certeau′s work and comments on the current rediscovery of his potential.

Notes on Contributors. Acknowledgments. Introduction. (Graham Ward). Part I Other Times: Historiography. 1 Introduction: Michael de Certeau on Histography. 2 Writings and Histories. 3 History: Science and Fiction. Part II Other Cities: Cultural Politics. 4 Introduction. (Tom Conley). 5 A Symbolic Revolution. 6 The Social Architecture of Knowledge. 7 The Indian Long March. Part III Other People: Ethnorgraphy and Social Practice. 8 Introduction. (Ian Buchannan). 9. Walking in the City. 10. Believing and Making People Believe. 11. Ethno–Graphy, Speech, or the space of the Other. (Jean de Lery). Part IV Other Languages: Speech and Writing. 12. Introduction. (Jeremy Ahearne). 13. The Scriptural Economy. 14. The World of the Vowel. 15. Mystic Speech. Part V Other Beliefs: Theology. 16. Introduction: Michel de Certeau, Theologst. (Frederick Bauerschmidt). 17. The Weakness of Believing. From the Body to Writing a Christian Transit. Select Bibliography. Index.

Graham Ward is Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics at the University of Manchester. He is the author of numerous articles published throughout the world on theology, critical theory and literary theory. His previous books include Barth, Derrida and the Language of Theology (1995), Theology and Contemporary Critical Theory (1996), The Postmodern God (Blackwell Publishers, 1997), Radical Orthodoxy (1998) and Balthasar at the End of Modernity (1999). He is also editor of the journal Literature and Theology.

"This excellent new reader is divided into five sections touching on different aspects of Certeau′s work and his engagement with issues regarding the Other, spatiality, colonialism, the body, oppression, and others." The Front Table