The International Circulation of Structuralism

Gisèle Sapiro (1) , Lucile Dumont

1 CESSP - Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique

Studying the international diffusion of structuralism throws light on various mechanisms that characterize the transnational circulation of ideas: the label’s instability, the part played by international conferences and collective publications, and the importance of national and disciplinary stakes. The first importations of structuralist texts (1960s–1970s) are thus marked by the work of numerous intermediaries. Translations multiplied around the world in the 1980s—when structuralism started to decline in France—and are still ongoing. An extraction from the Index Translationum from 1980 to 2009 enables us to trace the circulation of major structuralist authors across time and space. Finally, the volumes published in English on structuralism during this period provide a view of the appropriations and epistemological uses of this paradigm, as well as of the historical reconstructions and criticisms of the paradigm.

Mots clés: Structuralism/Post-Structuralism; International circulation of ideas; Translation; History of the Humanities

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Gisèle Sapiro, Lucile Dumont. The International Circulation of Structuralism: Between Appropriations and Rejections. Ideas on the Move in the Social Sciences and Humanities, Springer International Publishing, pp.31-54, 2020, 978-3-030-35023-9. ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-35024-6_2⟩. ⟨halshs-03047803⟩