Jean-Francois Lyotard

Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) was one of the most important French philosophers of the Twentieth Century. His impact has been felt across many disciplines: sociology; cultural studies; art theory and politics. This volume presents a diverse selection of interviews, conversations and debates which relate to the five decades of his working life, both as a political militant, experimental philosopher and teacher. Including hard-to-find interviews and previously untranslated material, this is the first time that interviews with Lyotard have been presented as a collection.
Key concepts from Lyotard's thought - the differend, the postmodern, the immaterial - are debated and discussed across different time periods, prompted by specific contexts and provocations. In addition there are debates with other thinkers, including Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, which may be less familiar to an Anglophone audience. These debates and interviews help to contextualise Lyotard, highlighting the importance of Marx, Freud, Kant and Wittgenstein, in addition to the Jewish thought which accompanies the questions of silence, justice and presence that pervades Lyotard's thinking.

Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) was one of the most important French philosophers of the Twentieth Century. He was the author of classic philosophical texts such as Discourse, Figure; Libidinal Economy; The Differendand The Postmodern Condition: a report on knowledge.
Kiff Bamford is Reader in Contemporary Art in the School of Art, Architecture and Design, Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is author of 'Lyotard and the figural in Performance, Art and Writing' (Bloomsbury, 2012) and 'Jean-François Lyotard: Critical Lives' (2017).