Foucault's radio interviews explored in Beijing book discussion

A book discussion on the first volume of Michel Foucault: Radio Interviews, 1961–1983 was held on Thursday in Beijing to mark the centenary of the birth of the French social theorist and philosopher Foucault. The book's translator, Professor Dong Shubao, of Beijing Language and Culture University, and Professor Wang Min'an of Tsinghua University, came together for a lively conversation about this unusual "Foucault anthology".

The new book gathers transcripts from a number of French cultural radio programs Foucault took part in between 1961 and 1963 — 15 shows in all — and is the first of the four volumes in the Michel Foucault: Radio Interviews 1961-1983 series. The anthology is among the most complete collections of Foucault's radio interviews available in Chinese. It took more than a decade to put together, with the editing completed by Foucault's nephew and literary executor, Henri-Paul Fruchaud.

Arranged chronologically, the book opens in 1961, just as Foucault returned to France after years of living in Sweden, Poland and Germany, and follows him all the way to 1983, the year before his death. Over those two decades, the programs he appeared on varied widely and ranged across an extraordinarily broad set of fields — philosophy, history, literature, medicine and psychiatry, politics, theater, journalism and contemporary social events.

At the book discussion, the participants noted that French radio from the 1960s through the 1980s was a major intellectual arena, where thinkers from different fields came together in conversation. From his return to France in 1961 until the end of his life, Foucault was a frequent presence on radio, and each publication or republication of his work became an occasion for a new radio interview or debate.

In front of the microphone, Foucault deftly fielded questions from fellow participants, explaining and clarifying views that had originally been dense and esoteric. These spoken records offer a window into Foucault's thought processes and are primary documents no Foucault researcher can afford to overlook. Whether a reader is working through one of Foucault's monographs or is simply curious about a particular topic of his, they can find dialogue that discusses it — and this collection of interviews is exactly the kind of guide that makes his way of thinking easier to approach.

Professor Dong said that the book can serve as a "map of thought" for understanding Foucault's works. Introductions to Foucault usually have someone else explaining the philosopher on his behalf; this collection, by contrast, has Foucault explaining his own thoughts.

"These interviews are Foucault himself, in his own time and before a real audience, explaining what he was working on," Dong said.