Jean-Marie Apostolidès on Guy Debord, Situationism, and Psychogeography

Jean-Marie Apostolidès was educated in France, where he received a doctorate in literature and the social sciences. He taught psychology in Canada for seven years and sociology in France for three years. In 1980 he came to the United States, teaching at Harvard and then Stanford, primarily French literature and drama. He is interested in avant-garde artistic movements such as dada, surrealism, and situationist international; as well as the theory of image, literary theory. He is also a playwright, whose work has been staged in Paris, Montreal, and New York. In his books, Professor Apostolidès interprets the works of the past as witnesses of our intellectual and emotional life. His examination of the distant or near past seeks to make us more sensitive to the social changes that are taking place now, in order to improve our understanding of the direction in which contemporary society is moving. He is the author of several important works, including, most recently, the acclaimed Debord: le naufrageur (Flammarion: 2015). For a full list of publications, please see:  https://dlcl.stanford.edu/people/jean-marie-apostolidès