Tzvetan Todorov

The Bulgarian-born French scholar, writer, and intellectual Tzvetan Todorov was one of the most accomplished minds of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: however, the many books that he has authored since parting ways with the Structuralist movement of the 60s and 70s have not received anywhere near the consideration they deserve, even though they constitute his most significant contribution to the critical study of culture, society, politics, and art. This critical overview of Todorov's life and intellectual evolution provides a summary of his long, highly productive, and wide-ranging career, bringing much-needed and richly deserved attention to his thought. The editors and contributors have brilliantly succeeded in their task: written in clear, precise, jargon-free, and enjoyable prose, the book is highly accessible even to undergraduates, yet it is remarkably learned, having much to say about intellectual history and Todorov's place in it. Instructors, graduate students, and advanced researchers will all benefit from this book. - Nathan Bracher, Professor of French, Texas A&M University -- Nathan Bracher, Professor of French, Texas A&M University
It is curious that until now there has been no full-length study of the work of Tzvetan Todorov. And while Todorov's early structuralist phase is frequently discussed in accounts of literary theory in general and structuralism in particular, his later work remains to a large extent unknown and little remarked. This book is therefore welcome, and a decisive intervention in the debate over his significance. The portrait presented of Todorov has several foci, including his 'marginal centricity' within the French intellectual field; his philosophical precursors and influences, in particular Rousseau and Bakhtin; his conception of the Enlightenment; his views on historiography and on historical judgments; his defense of a European identity; and his political philosophy and critiques of totalitarianism, neoconservativism, and neoliberalism. Throughout, the contributors relate Todorov's later political thought to contemporary debates and discussions in ways that are illuminating and helpful. - Paul Bishop, Professor of German and William Jacks Chair in Modern Languages, University of Glasgow -- Paul Bishop, Professor of German and William Jacks Chair in Modern Languages, University of Glasgow