The concept of symbolic action: Michel de Certeau and the search for meaning
Michel de Certeau et la quête du sens
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12957/intellectus.2025.86428Keywords:
Michel de Certeau, May 1968, modern mysticismAbstract
This article proposes a study of the work of French intellectual Michel de Certeau (1925 - 1986) based on the intertwining of his reflections on the May 1968 Revolution and his work as a historian of modern mysticism. Emphasizing the notion of “symbolic action”, which emerges in his writings on May, we seek to illuminate it by placing it in relation to the developments regarding the symbolic in the passage from the medieval world to modernity. The author's dialog with the works of Michel Foucault, Henri de Lubac and Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalysis is examined, in order not only to explore the resonances of the notion of “symbolic action”, but also to show the solidarity between his theoretical thinking and the spiritual engagement of the Jesuit Michel de Certeau.
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