This ground-breaking book furthers the internal sociological analysis of ideas and styles of thought by showing that the defining but largely neglected feature of what has become 'French theory' is a collective mind and style, with an explosive but fragile mixture of scientific and political radicalism. This will be a key text for social theorists and those interested in popular media culture within France.

Introduction; Part I From Literature to Revolution; Chapter 1 The Nouveau Roman and Rebellion; Chapter 2 The Tel Quel Saga; Chapter 3 Julia Kristeva's Invasion of Paris; Chapter 4 Kristeva's Power-Ideas: Ideologeme and the Zerologic Subject; Chapter 5 Rebellion around Tel Quel; Chapter 6 Sollerspierre, the Revolutionary of the Text; Chapter 7 "Sciences" of Meaning, Work and the Unconscious; Part II Désenchantement and Disintegration; Chapter 8 Neo-surrealism: Breton and Mao; Chapter 9 The Symbolic Revolution of Jacques Derrida; Chapter 10 The Taming of French Theory; Chapter 11 The Power-idea of Structure; Chapter 12 The Bourgeois Political Order: A Critique; Chapter 13 Constructing an Academic Sociology; epilogue Epilogue French Theory as Symbolic Transgression and Political Rebellion;

Niilo Kauppi, Director of Research, CNRS/University of Strasbourg, France