Discourse, power and the subject
Edited by Alec McHoul and Wendy Grace
The book
In such seminal works as Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality, the late philosopher Michel Foucault explored what our politics, our sexuality, our societal conventions, and our changing notions of truth told us about ourselves. In the process, Foucault garnered a reputation as one of the preeminent philosophers of the latter half of the twentieth century, and has served as a primary influence on successive generations of philosophers and cultural critics. With A Foucault Primer, Alec McHoul and Wendy Grace bring Foucault's work into focus for the uninitiated.
Written in crisp and concise prose, A Foucault Primer explicates the three central concepts of Foucauldian theory, discourse, power and the subject – and suggests that Foucault has much yet to contribute to contemporary debate.
'A consistently clear, comprehensive and accessible introduction which carefully sifts Foucault's work for both its strengths and weaknesses. McHoul and Grace show an intimate familiarity with Foucault's writings and a lively, but critical engagement with the relevance of his work. A model primer.'
- Tony Bennett, author of Outside Literature
The authors
ALEC McHOUL is the author of Telling How Texts Talk and co-author of Writing Pynchon: Strategies in fictional analysis. He teaches at Murdock University, where WENDY GRACE is engaged in postgraduate work on Foucault.
Publication details
Paperback, 140 pages, ISBN 978 1 877133 61 9, $24.95
1998
OUT OF PRINT