Tag Archive: Michel Foucault


FOUCAULT ON REASON AND MADNESS

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March 10, 2013

MADNESS & CIVILIZATION by Michel Foucault

(Translated from the French by Richard Howard) First published 1964

Subtitled ‘A history of insanity in the age of reason’, this densely argued and fascinating book shows how madness as a spectacle and disability has fascinated and haunted the history of mankind since the 15th century.

In this meticulously researched, controversial study Foucault observes how “fear of madness grew at the same time as fear of unreason”. This was represented in Goya’s famous etching ‘The Sleep of reason produces monsters‘. Hieronymus Bosch was another artist who depicted madness to symbolise the fall of man.

This book begins at the end of the Middle Ages after a cure for leprosy had been found. Foucault shows how the role of the leper in society was replaced by the poor, the criminals and the insane.

Madness represents the direct opposite of strength, purpose and reason so is associated with weakness, dreams and illusions. Continue reading →

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CIVILISATION VS MADNESS IN ITALIAN POLITICS

Filed under: Books, Fiction, Italy, Movies, Politics — Leave a comment
February 21, 2013

VIVA LA LIBERTA’ directed by Roberto Andò (Italy, 2013)

“Liberty, far from putting man in possession of himself, ceaselessly alienates him from his essence and his world” – Michel Foucault, Madness & Civilisation

This movie is adapted from director Roberto Andò’s own novel which bore the more Shakespearean title ‘Il Trono Vuoto’ (Literally, ‘The Empty Throne’ or a looser translation could be The Hollow Crown). This association is no coincidence since, as in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors, the two protagonists are twins.

It stars the consistently excellent Toni Servillo who reminds me of the great Scottish character actor Alastair Sim because he has the same droll melancholy that lends itself well to drama or farce. In this film he is able to show both faces.

The first is as a tired, disillusioned politician Enrico Olivieri. As leader of an opposition party, his support is dwindling and his standing even among his own members is on the wane.

Weary of the rituals and close to a nervous breakdown, he takes an impromptu leave of absence leaving his party in a quandary. In desperation they opt for a high-risk strategy of using his estranged twin brother Giovanni Ernani as a stopgap solution.

Continue reading →
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