Discourse, Figure

"Lyotards Discourse, Figure has been an extremely important work for contemporary cultural theory. Lyotard brilliantly explores the relations between aesthetics, psychoanalysis, and philosophy; his book has changed the way we think about those relations."Leo Bersani "We have had to wait a long time for the English translation of this seminal book. It was among the first to bring word and image studies to a level where binary opposition is no longer the sole mode of argumentation, and complexity of thought allows us to envision that both of these two complementary modes are constantly in operation. The key term the figural brings thinking about visual manifestations of thought beyond the opposition between abstract and figurative that continues to predominate even today."Mieke Bal "The English-language translation, skillfully completed by Antony Hudek but retaining a key portion of the text translated by the late Mary Lydon, permits a pleasurably fluent read; is well supported by footnotes; and offers unobtrusive guidance on some key terminological issues. This treatment should add greatly to the reception that this long-awaited English-language edition will no doubt enjoy."Environment and Planning D: Society and Space "Lyotards novel, innovative approaches to art, aesthetics, and language only now are beginning to receive due consideration from scholars. This work... presents the best-developed treatment of many ideas and arguments in his writings. Lyotards rich, suggestive examination of contrasting interpretive puzzles presented by word and image in modern art... here receives a fully developed argument, splendidly anchored by its scholarly apparatus."Choice

Jean-Franois Lyotard (19241998) was the author of many books, including The Differend, The Postmodern Condition, The Postmodern Explained, and Postmodern Fables. Antony Hudek is research fellow at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts, London. Mary Lydon (19372001) was professor of French emerita at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. John Mowitt is professor of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota.