Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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During the 1960’s, Foucault was more often associated with the structuralist
movement. He did not like being identified as a postmodernist, saying he preferred to
discuss the definition of modernity. Structuralism and post-structuralism are terms
frequently used in relation to postmodernism, and several of the postmodernists
developed from this stream of thinking. Structuralism is sometimes described as the
attempt to bring all our attempts to understand human existence under one model, or
structure, especially as influenced by the linguistics of Swiss theorist, Ferdinand de
Saussure. Jacques Derrida, another key postmodernist, was poststructuralist, meaning he
rejected Saussure’s theories.
Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, as Paul-Michel Foucault. His father was an
eminent surgeon who hoped his son would follow suit. They lived in the Vichy region of
France, which later came under German occupation. After WWII, Michel gained entry to
the prestigious École Normale Supérieure d'Ulm, a traditional path to an academic career.
His life at the École Normale was difficult. He suffered from acute depression and even
attempted suicide, for which he saw a psychiatrist. From this experience, he became
fascinated with psychology. He later earned his licence in both philosophy and
psychology. Like many alumnus from École Normale, he joined the French Communist
Party (1950-53), but was never active. He later left the Communist party due to concerns
about what was happening in the Soviet Union under Stalin.
Foucault lectured briefly at École Normale after passing his aggregation in 1950, and
then taught psychology at the University of Lille from 1953-54. In 1954 he published his
first book, Maladie mentale et personnalité, a work he would later disavow. He
discovered he was not interested in teaching, so he left France in 1954, and served France
as a cultural delegate at the University of Uppsala (Sweden). In 1958 he left Uppsala for
briefly held positions in Warsaw, Poland and Hamburg, Germany, then returned to France
in 1960 to complete his doctorate at the University of Cerlmont-Ferrand, which was
awarded in 1961. There he met Daniel Defert, the man with whom he lived in a nonmonogamous
homosexual relationship for the rest of his life. In 1963, he published three
works, including Naissance de la Clinique (Birth of the Clinic).
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa