Tzvetan Todorov
Tzvetan Todorov ( Bulgarian Цветан Тодоров , German transcription Tsvetan Todorov ; born March 1, 1939 in Sofia ; † February 7, 2017 in Paris ) was a Bulgarian-French writer and scientist . His research activities can be assigned to sociology , politics , philosophy , history , art history , linguistics , literary studies and semiotics .
Life
Todorov emigrated to France in 1963 and went to Paris, where he received his doctorate in 1970. He took French citizenship and saw himself as a European. In 1968 he began his work at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, from 1987 he was Directeur de recherche (Research Director).
When Todorov translated texts by Russian formalists into French and published them in his book Théorie de la littérature in France in 1965, he became, alongside Julia Kristeva, the most important mediator of Russian literary theory in French structuralism .
In his Introduction to Fantastic Literature (1970), Tzvetan Todorov deals with the genre of fantastic literature . Todorov's theory is the starting point for almost all attempts to determine the fantastic since then. The German-language discussion on this genre was only initiated by Todorov's book.
The work The Conquest of America. The Problem of the Other (originally published in 1982) deals with the European colonization of the New World and the phenomenon of alterity, which helped the West to mark the cultures of America as alien in order to subsequently "discover" them. Todorov asks how models of otherness emerged in the discourses of discovery and conquest and how these have influenced the processes of national and cultural identity in Europe, i.e. how they “mapped out and justified our present identity”.
Todorov's analysis of recognition is particularly relevant to anthropology and sociology . In this he contradicts Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes , who see community only as a necessary evil to which man is forced out of want. Todorov, on the other hand, sees community as a need. This is based on the psychological desire for recognition. This conception of seeing the desire for recognition as the central condition of human coexistence goes back to Lacan's psychoanalysis and Kojève's interpretation of Hegel .
Visiting professorships have taken him to New York University , Columbia University , Harvard University , Yale University and the University of California at Berkeley. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society from 1998 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2007 .
Todorov was married to the Canadian-born novelist Nancy Huston .
Works
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The description of the signification in literature . In: Journal Communications 4, pp. 33-39, 1964.
- deutsch The description of the meaning in literature . In: Literary Studies and Linguistics 3rd ed. Jens Ihwe, Athenaeum, Frankfurt 1971, pp. 120–130
- As translator and editor: Théorie de la littérature: textes des formalistes russes . Seuil, Paris 1965. (with a foreword by Roman Jakobson , the co-founder of Prague structuralism ) Paperback edition: Ed. du Seuil, Paris 2001, Collection points essais ISBN 2-02-049749-2
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Les categories du recit littéraire . In: Journal Communications 8, pp. 125-151, 1966
- German The categories of literary narration . In: On the structure of the novel . Edited by Bruno Hillebrand. Darmstadt 1978, pp. 347-369, ISBN 3-534-07074-7 , translator Irmela Rehbein
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Les anomalies semantiques . In: Langages 1, 1966, pp. 100-123
- German The semantic anomalies . In: Literary Studies and Linguistics 1, Ed. Jens Ihwe, Ars poetica series 8.1. Athenaeum, Frankfurt 1971
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Poétique . In: Quést-ce que le structuralisme . Eds. François Wahl and Oswald Ducrot. Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1968
- German poetics . In: Introduction to Structuralism . Edited by François choice. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a. M. 1973, pp. 105-180, from the French by Eva Moldenhauer, ISBN 3-518-07610-8
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Introduction à la littérature fantastique . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1970, ISBN 978-2-02-004374-8
- German introduction to fantastic literature . Translated from the French by Karin Kersten , Senta Metz, Caroline Neubaur . S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1992, first Hanser, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-446-11632-X ; Wagenbach, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8031-2698-6 .
- Grammaire du “Décaméron” , Mouton, Frankfurt 1969, where Todorov coined the term “ narratology ”.
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Poétique de la prose . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1971, ISBN 2-02-002037-8
- German Poetics of Prose , Athenaeum, Frankfurt a. M. 1972, from the French by Helene Müller, ISBN 3-7610-9241-5 .
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Théories du symbols . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1977, ISBN 2-02-004606-7
- German symbol theories . Translated from the French by Beat Gyger. Series: Concepts of Linguistics and Literature Studies 54, Niemeyer, Tübingen 1995. ISBN 3-484-22054-6
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Symbolism et interprétation . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1978, ISBN 2-02-004999-6
- Symbolism and Interpretation . Catherine Porter in Romanian. Cornell UP, Ithaca 1982 ISBN 0-8014-1269-2
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Les genres du discours . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1978 (Coll. Poétique.) ISBN 2-02-005000-5
- Genres in Discourse . Translated from Catherine Porter, Cambridge UP, Ithaca 1990, ISBN 0-521-34249-X
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Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences du langage . with Oswald Ducrot. Ed. du Seuil, Paris ISBN 2-02-014437-9
- German Encyclopedic Dictionary of Linguistics . Translated by Micheline Theune-Baube and Arno Ros, Athenaion, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-7997-0162-1
- English Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language . Translator Catherine Porter, Johns Hopkins UP, Baltimore ISBN 0-8018-2857-0
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Mikhaïl Bakhtine , le principe dialogique suivi de Écrits du Cercle de Bakhtine , Éd. du Seuil, Paris 1981, ISBN 2-02-005830-8
- English Mikhail Bakhtin, The Dialogical Principle. Series: Theory and History of Literature, Vol. 13, transl. Wlad Godzich, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1984 ISBN 0-8166-1291-9
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La conquête de l'Amérique: la question de l'autre . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1982, ISBN 2-02-012576-5
- deutsch The conquest of America. The other's problem . Translated by Wilfried Böhringer , 8th edition. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2002, ISBN 3-518-11213-9
- Récits aztèques de la conquête . Textes choisis et prés. by Georges Baudot and Tzvetan Todorov; trad. du náhuatl by Georges Baudot et de l'espagnol by Pierre Cordoba; annotés by Georges Baudot. Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1983, ISBN 2-02-006628-9 .
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Fréle bonheur. Essai sur Rousseau . Textes du XX e Siècle, Hachette, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-01-011213-X .
- English Frail happiness: an essay on Rousseau . Translated by John T. Scott and Robert D. Zaretsky. Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, University Park, Pa. 2001. XXXII, 70 pp., ISBN 0-271-02110-1 .
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Critique de la critique: un roman d'apprentissage . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1984 ISBN 2-02-008510-0 .
- English Critique de la critique: Literature and its Theorists: A Personal View of Twentieth Century Criticism . Translated by Catherine Porter. Cornell UP, Ithaca and Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1987, ISBN 0-7102-1421-9 .
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Nous et les autres, La reflexion française sur la diversité humaine . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-02-018217-3 .
- English On Human Diversity: Nationalism, Racism, and Exotism in French Thought . Translated by Catherine Porter, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1993, ISBN 0-674-63439-X
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Les Morales de l'histoire . Grasset, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-246-42581-6 .
- English The Morals of History . Translated by Alyson Waters, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1995, ISBN 0-8166-2298-1 .
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Face à l'extreme . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-02-012884-5
- German In view of the extreme . Translated by Wolfgang Heuer and Andreas Knop, Fink, Munich 1993, ISBN 978-3-7705-2855-4 .
- English Facing the Extreme: moral life in the concentration camps . Übers. Arthur Denner and Abigail Pollak. Henry Holt, New York 1996, ISBN 0-8050-4263-6
- Éloge du quotidien: essai sur la peinture hollandaise du XVII siècle , Adam Biro, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-02-031198-4 .
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Une tragédie française - Eté 1944: scènes de guerre civil . Ed. du Seuil, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-02-067920-5 .
- English A French Tragedy: Scenes of Civil War, Summer 1944 . Transl. Mary Bird Kelly, Richard J. Golson. University Press of New England, Hannover 1996, ISBN 0-87451-747-8 .
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La vie commune. Essai d'anthropologie générale . Paris 1995.
- Adventure of living together. Attempt at a general anthropology . Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 1996 / Fischer TB 1999
- Adventure of living together: attempting a general anthropology (original title: La vie commune , translated by Wolfgang Kaiser), epilogue Jürgen Straub, Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8379-2525-8 .
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Benjamin Constant. La passion démocratique . Hachette, Paris 1997, ISBN 2-253-13071-0
- English A Passion for Democracy: Benjamin Constant . Translator Alice Seberry. Algora, New York 1999, ISBN 978-1-892941-01-5
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Le Jardin imparfait. La pensée humaniste en France. Grasset, Paris 1998 ISBN 2-246-56981-8
- English Imperfect Garden: The Legacy of Humanism . Translated by Carol Cosman. Princeton UP, Princeton 2002, ISBN 0-691-01047-1
- Les Abus de la mémoire. Arléa, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-86959-405-4
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La Fragility you bien. Le sauvetage des Juifs bulgares. Texts compiled and commented on by TT. Translated from the Bulgarian Marie Vrinat and Irène Kristeva; Series: Le Grand livre du mois. Albin Michel, Paris 1999. ISBN 2-226-11086-0
- English The Fragility of Goodness, Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust . Translated from the French by Arthur Denner. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2001, 208 pp., ISBN 0-691-08832-2
- Éloge de l'individu: essai sur la peinture flamande de la Renaissance . Adam Biro, Paris 2000
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Memoire you mal, tentation you bien. Robert Laffont, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-221-09079-9
- English Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century . Translated from D. Bellos, Princeton UP, Princeton 2003, ISBN 0-691-09658-9
- Devoirs and Delices. Une vie de passeur. Conversations with Catherine Portevin, Éd. du Seuil, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-02-067912-4
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Le Nouveau désordre mondial. Reflections d'un Européen . Robert Laffont, Paris 2003 ISBN 2-221-10122-7
- deutsch The prevented world power. Reflections of a European. Translated by Hanna van Laak. Wilhelm Goldmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-442-15273-9 ; again at the Federal Agency for Civic Education
- Les Aventuriers de l'absolu . Robert Laffont, Paris 2005 ISBN 2-221-09968-0
- L'Esprit des Lumières . ibid. 2006, ISBN 2-221-10666-0
- La Littérature to péril . Flammarion, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-08-120189-7
- L'art ou la vie! Le cas Rembrandt. Biro, Paris 2008 ISBN 978-2-35119-042-5
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La Peur des barbaren, Au-delà du choc des civilizations. Robert Laffont, Paris 2008 ISBN 2-221-11125-7
- german The fear of the barbarians. Cultural diversity versus clash of cultures. Translated by Ilse Utz. Hamburger Edition, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86854-221-9
- La Signature humaine. Essais 1983–2008. Le Seuil, Paris 2009, ISBN 2-02-099326-0 .
Awards
- 1991 Jean Jacques Rousseau Prize, Geneva, for Les Morales de l'histoire
- 1998 Prix européen de l'essai Charles Veillon , Lausanne, for Benjamin Constant. La Passion democratique
- 2004 Spinoza-Prijs, Amsterdam
- 2007 Premio Grinzane Cavour, Turin, Premio “Dialogo tra i continenti”
- 2008 Premio Mondello , special jury award for La littérature en peril (or for the Italian edition La letteratura in pericolo )
- 2008 Prince of Asturias Prize
Web links
- Literature by and about Tzvetan Todorov in the catalog of the German National Library
- Pieke Biermann: The clash of “one's own” and “foreign” . Review of Todorov's book The Fear of the Barbarians in the Deutschlandradio-Kultur program “Buchkritik”, November 3, 2010.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tzvetan Todorov died. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . February 7, 2017, accessed March 13, 2017 .
- ^ Wolfgang Schmid: Russian literary theory and international narratology . In: Jörg Dierken, Andreas Stuhlmann, (Ed.): Humanities on the offensive . Hamburg location regulations. Hamburg 2009, pp. 100–116. ( [1] PDF)
- ↑ Jan Erik Antonsen: Poetics of the Impossible, Narratological Research on Fantasticism, Fairy Tales and Mythical Tales . Mentis, Paderborn 2007, ISBN 978-3-89785-116-0
- ↑ On the history of the impact and the criticism of Lem u. a. see. the Wikipedia article on Fantastik and the individual references given there.
- ↑ Todorov, The Conquest of America , p. 13
- ^ Member History: Tzvetan Todorov. American Philosophical Society, accessed January 30, 2019 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Todorov, Tzvetan |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Todorow, Zwetan; Тодоров, Цветан (Bulgarian) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bulgarian-French writer and literary scholar |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1939 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Sofia , Bulgaria |
DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 2017 |
Place of death | Paris , France |