Tiqqun

Tiqqun is the name of a French leftist philosophical journal, founded in 1999 with an aim to "recreate the conditions of another community." It was created by various writers before dissolving in Venice, Italy in 2001 following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Tiqqun was the object of some interest in the media after the arrest of Julien Coupat, one of its founders. The journal was short-lived; only two issues were produced.[1]

Tiqqun is also, more generally, the name of the philosophical concept which stems from these texts, and is often used in a broad sense to name the many publications containing the journal's texts, in order to designate, if not a specific author, at least "a point of spirit from which these writings come."

Tiqqun became better known to an American audience in 2009 and 2010 after Glenn Beck featured commentary on the English edition of The Coming Insurrection (rumoured to be co-authored by several former members of the Tiqqun collective under the pseudonym the Invisible Committee)[lower-alpha 1] in his media broadcasts.

Articles

Eleven articles were published in the journal's first issue, and ten articles were published in its second issue.[2][3][lower-alpha 2] Additionally, nine smaller pieces were interspersed between each of the second issue's ten main articles; these latter were two-page spreads with black backgrounds.[lower-alpha 3] In all, thirty items were published in the journal, listed below.

IssueFrench TitleEnglish TitlePage No.
Tiqqun #1 Eh bien, la guerre! Well, War! 3
Qu'est-ce que la Métaphysique Critique? What is Critical Metaphysics? 7
Théorie du Bloom Theory of Bloom 23
Phénoménologie de la vie quotidienne Phenomenology of Everyday Life 46
Thèses sur le Parti Imaginaire Theses on the Imaginary Party 50
Le silence et son au-delà Silence and Beyond 72
De l'économie considérée comme magie noire Economy as Black Magic 80
Premiers matériaux pour une théorie de la Jeune-Fille Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl 94
Hommes-machines, mode d'emploi Machine-Men: a User's Guide 127
Les métaphysiciens-critiques sous le «mouvement des chômeurs» Critical Metaphysicians behind the "Movement of the Unemployed" 137
Quelques actions d'éclat du Parti Imaginaire A Few Scandalous Actions of the Imaginary Party 146
Tiqqun #2 Introduction à la guerre civile Introduction to Civil War 2
Dernier avertissement au parti imaginaire Final Warning to the Imaginary Party 38
L'hypothèse cybernétique The Cybernetic Hypothesis 40
Les vainqueurs avaient vaincu sans peine The Conquerors had Won Easily 84
Thèses sur la communauté terrible Theses on the Terrible Community 86
Tout mouvement excède All Movements Exceed 112
Le problème de la tête The Problem of the Head 114
Ceux qui ne veulent pas du progrès, le progrès ne veut pas d'eux Progress doesn't want Those who don't want Progress 128
«Une métaphysique critique pourrait naître comme science des dispositifs...» "A Critical Metaphysics could be Born as a Science of Apparatuses..." 130
Halte à la domestiCAFion! Stop DomestiCAFtion! 160
Rapport à la S.A.S.C. concernant un dispositif impérial Report to the S.A.S.C. Concerning an Imperial Apparatus 162
Notes sur le local Notes on the Local 176
Le petit jeu de l'homme d'Ancien Régime The Little Game of the Man of the Ancien Régime 178
On a toujours l'âge de déserter You're Never Too Old to Ditch Out 192
Échographie d'une puissance Ultrasound of a Power 194
Bonjour! Hello! 234
Ceci n'est pas un programme This is Not a Program 236
Ma noi ci saremo But We Will Be There 272
Comment faire? How should it be done? 278

Authorship

Tiqqun's articles are not credited to individual authors; rather, they are simply attributed to the journal's namesake. However the first issue's back cover contained a colophon which listed the issue's editorial board as Julien Boudart, Fulvia Carnevale, Julien Coupat, Junius Frey, Joël Gayraud, Stephan Hottner and Rémy Ricordeau.[5]

Origin and use of the name

The name of the journal comes from the great importance that the writers give to the philosophical concept of Tiqqun (the best definitions are found in the texts Theory of Bloom and Introduction to Civil War). It is the French transcription of the original Hebrew term Tikkun olam, a concept issuing from Judaism, often used in the kabbalistic and messianic traditions, which simultaneously indicates reparation, restitution, and redemption. It has also come to designate, more broadly, a contemporary Jewish conception of social justice.[lower-alpha 4]

Affiliations

Tiqqun’s poetic style and radical political engagement are akin to the Situationists and the Lettrists. Tiqqun has influenced radical political and philosophical milieus, post-Situationist groups, and other elements of ultra-left, squat and autonomist movements, as well as some anarchists. Tiqqun’s themes and concepts are strongly influenced by the work of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, who in turn wrote a public editorial supporting Coupat's due process legal rights.[lower-alpha 5]

English translations

Selected articles from Tiqqun have been translated into a variety of languages and released as standalone books. Following is a list of English editions.

  • Introduction to Civil War (translated by Alexander R. Galloway and Jason E Smith). Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2010. ISBN 978-1-58435-086-6. This volume, part of Semiotext(e)'s Intervention series, contains the texts "Introduction to Civil War" and "How Is It To Be Done?", which were originally published in issue 2 of Tiqqun (2001).[lower-alpha 6]
  • This is Not a Program. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2011. ISBN 978-1-58435-097-2. This volume, which is also a part of Semiotext(e)'s Intervention series, contains the texts "This Is Not a Program" and "A Critical Metaphysics Could Be Born as a Science of Apparatuses," which were originally published in issue 2 of Tiqqun (2001).
  • Tiqqun 1 Publisher unknown, 2011. No ISBN. This "faithful reproduction, in English, of the original release of Tiqqun #1" is distributed by Little Black Cart books, an anarchist book distribution project.[lower-alpha 7]
  • Theory of Bloom (translated by Robert Hurley). LBC Books, 2012. ISBN 978-1-62049-002-0. First published in France in 2004.
  • Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl (translated by Ariana Reines). Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2012. ISBN 978-1-58435-108-5. First published in France in 1999.
  • The Cybernetic Hypothesis (translated by Robert Hurley) Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2020. ISBN 9781635900927. Originally published in French in issue 2 of Tiqqun (2001).

See also

Notes

  1. Cunningham, John. "Invisible Politics - An Introduction to Contemporary Communisation". Meta Mute. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. Each issue had a table of contents for its primary articles near the back. See the final pages of the previous citations for these; note that the second issue's table of contents does not list page numbers and ignores the "minor" pieces placed between each main article.
  3. For example, see Dernier avertissement au parti imaginaire (Final Warning to the Imaginary Party), pp. 38-39 of Tiqqun #2.[4] One exception to this rule was Ma noi ci saremo (But We Will Be There), the final "minor" piece, which instead ran for six pages.
  4. For example, see the completely unaffiliated American magazine Tikkun, which also takes the Jewish term Tikkun olam for its title, but in the name of left-liberal social justice.
  5. Giorgio Agamben, "Terrorisme ou tragi-comédie" Libération (Paris, France: November 19, 2008). (Cf. also a widely circulated English translation.)
  6. Tiqqun, Introduction to Civil War (Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2010), "A Note on the Translation," p. 7.
  7. See the "About Us" section of Little Black Cart.

References

  1. "Tiqqun (author page)". mitpress.mit.edu. MIT Press.
  2. "Tiqqun, Organe conscient du Parti Imaginaire: Exercises de Métaphysique Critique". archive.org. Internet Archive. Facsimile of "Tiqqun #1", the journal's first issue. French original.
  3. "Tiqqun, Organe de liaison au sein du Parti Imaginaire: Zone d'Opacité Offensive". archive.org. Internet Archive. Facsimile of "Tiqqun #2", the journal's second issue. French original.
  4. "Dernier avertissement au parti imaginaire (Tiqqun #2)". archive.org. Internet Archive.
  5. "Tiqqun #1 (back cover)". archive.org. Internet Archive.
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