''Commentaire'' is a French quarterly magazine, created in 1978 by
Raymond Aron and
Jean-Claude Casanova.
Aron's previous journal venture, started in 1970 and titled ''Contrepoint'', had been terminated in 1976 following disagreements among its founders and its owner
Patrick Devedjian. In a wide-ranging 2008 interview, Casanova described the decision to create Commentaire as having been made in late 1977 and involving, besides Aron and himself, a group of common friends that included
Annie Kriegel, ,
Alain Besançon
Alain Besançon (born 25 April 1932) is a French historian. He specialises in intellectual history and Russian politics. From 1965 to 1992 he was director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. He was elected t ...
, , and . The journal's motto, a quote from
Pericles, was suggested by Papaioannou: ''Il n’y a pas de bonheur sans liberté, ni de liberté sans vaillance'' ("there can be neither happiness without liberty, nor liberty without courage").
Pierre Manent was the author of a manifesto explaining the journal's purpose in the first issue.
[
Among the journal's avowedly liberal inspirations, Casanova cited Montesquieu, Benjamin Constant, Alexis de Tocqueville, Élie Halévy, and Aron himself.
The journal relies largely on volunteer work and a small administrative staff. In 2008, it printed 6,000 copies and had 3,800 subscribers, the rest beingly sold in bookstores and newsshops.
A specific feature is the abundance of selected quotes in each of the journal's issues. A section titled ''sans commentaire'' ("no comment") includes involuntary comical quotes, often from political leaders or ideological commentators.
In 2017, ''Commentaire'' made all its past published articles available online. Like its center-left peer ''Esprit'', it is self-published and not dependent on a large publishing house.
]
Affiliates
As of early 2021, Commentaire's website mentioned two circles of affiliates (including past and deceased ones):Alain Besançon
Alain Besançon (born 25 April 1932) is a French historian. He specialises in intellectual history and Russian politics. From 1965 to 1992 he was director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. He was elected t ...
, Jean-Louis Bourlanges
Jean-Louis Bourlanges (born 13 July 1946) is a French politician who has represented the 12th constituency of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the National Assembly since 2017. A member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), he has presided over the ...
, Nathalie Delapalme, Gilles Étrillard, Marc Fumaroli, Pierre Manent, George de Ménil, Philippe Meyer, François Sureau, Philippe Trainar, Michel Zink
* Editorial Committee (''Comité de rédaction''): Cédric Argenton, , Guillaume Barrera, Karol Beffa
Karol Beffa, born on October 27, 1973 in Paris, is a French and Swiss composer and pianist.
Biography
Karol Beffa had a general education along with music studies, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, consisting of history, English, ph ...
, Jacques Bille, Dominique Bocquet, Michel Bourdeau, , Christopher Caldwell, Gwendal Châton, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, Benedetta Craveri, Jean-Marc Daniel
Jean-Marc Daniel (born 26 April 1954) is a French Economist, Professor at ESCP Business School and editorial Director of ''Societal'' magazine. He describes himself as a classic liberal.
He is a Columnist for the newspaper ''Le Monde'' (on the h ...
, , , Michel Duclos, Bruno Durieux
Bruno Durieux (born 23 October 1944) is a French politician.
Biography
Durieux is a graduate of the ''École polytechnique'' and ENSAE (''École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique''). He served in Algeria under the ...
, Vincent Feré, Louis de Fouchécour, , Jean Gatty, François Gorand, Donatien Grau, Sylviane Guillaumont, Patrick Guillaumont, Michel Gurfinkiel, , Pierre Hassner, Jean-Vincent Holeindre, , , Pierre Kende, Annie Kriegel, , Armand Laferrère, Guillaume Lagane, Mathieu Laine
Mathieu Laine (born April 9, 1975) is a French entrepreneur and intellectual.
He is the founder and head of Altermind, a boutique consultancy firm based in Paris, London, Brussels and Berlin.
He is an affiliate professor at Sciences Po P ...
, Vincent Laloy, Alain Lancelot, Alain Laurent, Tristan Lecoq, , Didier Maillard, Béatrice Majnoni d'Intignano, Sophie-Caroline de Margerie, Hervé Mariton, François de Mazières, Paul Mentré, Christophe Mercier, Thierry de Montbrial, , , Benoît Pellistrandi, Rémy Prud'Homme, , Pierre Rigoulot
Pierre Rigoulot (born 1944) is a French historian and author. The author of ''L'antiaméricanisme'', he contributed to Stéphane Courtois' ''The Black Book of Communism'' and helped Kang Chol-Hwan write ''The Aquariums of Pyongyang
''The Aqu ...
, Hervé Robert, Giuseppe Sacco, , Maryvonne de Saint-Pulgent, , Dominique Schnapper, Antoine Schnapper
Antoine Schnapper (10 July 1933 – 29 August 2004) was a French art historian on art of the 17th and the 18th century. A student of André Chastel, he organised many retrospectives on artists of that period, notably one at the Louvre in 1989 on J ...
, Mark Sherringham, Christine Sourgins, , , Éric Thiers, , Nicolas Véron
Nicolas Véron () is a French economist. He is a senior fellow at Bruegel in Brussels, which he co-founded in 2002–05, and at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, which he joined in 2009. In 2012, he was included ...
, Jean-Philippe Vincent,
See also
* '' Le Débat''
* ''Esprit
Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to:
* the French for Spirit; as a loanword:
** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation
** Morale, motivation and readiness
** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect"
* Esprit (name), a given name and surname
* ''Esprit'' (m ...
''
* '' Études ''
* ''Revue des deux Mondes
The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829.
According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...
''
Notes
{{Reflist
1978 establishments in France
Magazines established in 1978
Quarterly magazines published in France