The Century by Alain Badiou released in the frames of Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series
The Century”(Le Siècle) by Alain Badiou is just released in the frames of the Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series. This is the third published book in the series which consists of 10 books.
The official presentation of the book published by the Newmag Publishing House was held in the framework of the Yerevan Book Fest, on 31 July, at the RA Union of Artists.
Translator – Nazenie Gharibyan
Editor – Marc Nichanian
Publisher – Newmag
Read below the biographies of the translator, as well as short information on the author and the book.
Nazenie Gharibyan
The book is translated by Nazenie Gharibyan, an art historian, Armenian and medieval studies writer, publiciste, translator and editor. Nazenie Gharibyan is an invited professor at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Ca-Foscari University in Venice, Bologna University, Ecole Pratique des Hautes études in Sorbon and other renowned universities. She is the author and curator of the exhibition «Armenia: dal Genocidio alla Rinascita Cultural”, organized in 2017 in Livorno. She is the author of three monographs (one in French), over 30 scientific papers, more than 100 published articles, a number of academic, literary and journalistic translations from/into Armenian, French, Russian, Italian and the author of two documentary films.
Marc Nichanian
The book was edited by Marc Nichanian, a philosopher, literary critic and translator. Nichanian was born in France, and specialized in Armenian Studies and Philosophy. Nichanian has taught at a number of outstanding Universities in France, Italy, the USA, Turkey and Armenia. He has a long bibliography of published books, both translations and his own works on literature, philosophy and the humanities. In 1980 he founded KAM analytical journal, which has been published with interruptions in 1980-1986, then in 2000s and is currently since 2020. Nichanian now resides in Lisbon, Portugal.
Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou, born in 1937, is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault and Jean-François Lyotard. He is an honorable Maoist and quite a controversial figure in France. Badiou was a founding member of the Unified Socialist Party (PSU) and was active in supporting the decolonization of Algeria. He has written about the concepts of being, truth, event and the subject in a way that, he claims, is neither postmodern nor simply a repetition of modernity
“Love”, says France’s greatest living philosopher, “is not a contract between two narcissists. It’s more than that. It’s a construction that compels the participants to go beyond narcissism. In order that love lasts one has to reinvent oneself.
About the Book
The Century is a book about politics, philosophy and literature, first published in French by Éditions du Seuil in 2005. The thirteen chapters of the book are presented as lessons derived from a seminar Badiou gave at the College International de Philosophie between 1998-2001. Badiou’s analysis of the 20th century is drawn from his unique encounter with 20th century poetry and theater, literary theory, totalitarianism, and the search for meaningful narratives that are neither logical nor dialectical. He warns against “animal humanism” and advocates “formalized inhumanism“.