''Tel Quel'' (translated into English as, variously: "as is," "as such," or "unchanged") was a French

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evalu ...

published between 1960 and 1982.

History and profile

''Tel Quel'' was founded in 1960 in Paris by

Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936) is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the ''avant garde'' literary journal '' Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was published by Le ...

and

Jean-Edern Hallier Jean-Edern Hallier (1 March 193612 January 1997) was a French writer, critic and editor. After his exclusion from the literary review '' Tel Quel'', which he co-founded with Philippe Sollers, Hallier went on to publish novels and satirical pa ...

and published by

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' ...

. Important essays working towards

post-structuralism Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critiques ...

and

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essence ...

appeared here. Publication ceased in 1982, and the journal was succeeded by ''

L'Infini ''L'Infini'' (in English ''Infinity'') is a French literary collection and magazine, established in 1983 in Paris by Philippe Sollers as a follow up of the magazine '' Tel Quel''. The magazine was first published by Éditions Denoël and late ...

'' under Sollers's continued editorship. Though the journal originally published essays more in line with what current literary theory calls " structuralism," it would eventually feature work that reflected the revaluation of literary, artistic, and music criticism that began in France in the 1960s. The editors committee included

Jean-René Huguenin Jean-René Huguenin (1 March 1936 – 22 September 1962) was a French writer. He began writing articles for ''La Table ronde'' and ''Arts'' at the age of 20. In 1960, he published his first and only novel, ''La Côte sauvage'', which became a critic ...

Jean Ricardou Jean Ricardou (born 17 June 1932 in Cannes (France) — died 23 July 2016 in Cannes) was a French writer and theorist. He joined the ''Tel Quel'' editorial board in 1962, writing for the review until 1971. Between 1961 and 1984 he published three no ...

Jean Thibaudeau Jean Thibaudeau (7 March 1935 – 18 December 2013) was a French writer and translator. A novelist, essayist, playwright and translator, he was a member of the editorial board of the literary magazine ''Tel Quel''. He translated into French w ...

Michel Deguy Michel Deguy (23 May 1930 – 16 February 2022) was a French poet and translator. Biography Deguy was born in Paris on 23 May 1930. He taught French literature at the Universite de Paris VIII (Saint-Denis) for many years. He also served as di ...

, Marcelin Pleynet, Denis Roche, Jean-Louis Baudry, Jean-Pierre Faye, Jacqueline Risset, François Wahl, and

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who ha ...

(married to Philippe Sollers since 1967). Authors and collaborators include

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popul ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and ho ...

Maurice Blanchot Maurice Blanchot (; ; 22 September 1907 – 20 February 2003) was a French writer, philosopher and literary theorist. His work, exploring a philosophy of death alongside poetic theories of meaning and sense, bore significant influence on pos ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

, Jacques Derrida, Jean Cayrol, Jean-Pierre Faye, Shoshana Felman, Pierre Guyotat,

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political activ ...

, Marcelin Pleynet, ,

Dominique Rolin Dominique Rolin (22 May 1913 – 15 May 2012) was a Belgian novelist. Dominique Rolin was a granddaughter of Léon Cladel.Henri Peyre, ''French Novelists of Today'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1967, p.438 Her career was launched by Jean ...

, Severo Sarduy,

, Philippe-Joseph Salazar,

Tzvetan Todorov Tzvetan Todorov (; ; bg, Цветан Тодоров; 1 March 1939 – 7 February 2017) was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He was the author of many books and essays, whi ...

Francis Ponge Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge (; 27 March 1899 – 6 August 1988) was a French essayist and poet. Influenced by surrealism, he developed a form of prose poem, minutely examining everyday objects. He was the third recipient of the Neustadt Inte ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel '' The Name of th ...

Gérard Genette Gérard Genette (7 June 1930 – 11 May 2018) was a French literary theorist, associated in particular with the structuralist movement and such figures as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of '' bricolag ...

. In 1971 the journal broke with the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

and declared its support for

Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

. In 1974 the editorial members Philippe Sollers, Marcelin Pleynet, François Wahl, Roland Barthes and Julia Kristeva visited China. The trip, which was tightly organized by Chinese government officials, would later be processed in several essays and books by the participants. In the autumn of 1976 the journal explicitly distanced itself from Maoism.

References

External links

Interview with the ''Tel Quel'' founding group (video, 6 April 1963).
from taalfilosofie.nl (in Dutch)
Plus à propos de Tel Quel sur pileface.com/sollers
(in French) {{Authority control 1960 establishments in France 1982 disestablishments in France Avant-garde magazines Communist magazines Defunct literary magazines published in France French-language magazines Literary circles Magazines established in 1960 Magazines disestablished in 1982 Magazines published in Paris

History and profile

References

Further reading

External links