This Is Not a Pipe (Quantum Books)

Michel Foucault

ISBN 10: 0520049160 / ISBN 13: 9780520049161

Published by University of California Press, 1983

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0520049160I4N00

Synopsis:

What does it mean to write "This is not a pipe" across a bluntly literal painting of a pipe? Rene Magritte's famous canvas provides the starting point for a delightful homage by the French philosopher-historian Michel Foucault. Much better known for his incisive and mordant explorations of power and social exclusion, Foucault here assumes a more playful stance. By exploring the nuances and ambiguities of Magritte's visual critique of language, he finds the painter less removed than previously thought from the pioneers of modern abstraction - "confronting them and within a common system, a figure at once opposed and complementary." Foucault's brief but extraordinarily rich essay offers a startling, highly provocative view of a painter whose influence and popularity continue to grow unchecked. "This is Not a Pipe" also throws a new, piquantly dancing light on Foucault himself.

Review: "This essay not only proposes a new understanding of Magritte; it also constitutes a perfect illustration and introduction to the thought of the philosopher himself, France's great wizard of paradox."--"New York Times Book Review

Bibliographic Details

Title: This Is Not a Pipe (Quantum Books)
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: 1983
Binding: Paperback
Illustrator: Rene Magritte
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket