ABSTRACT
Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) was born in Versailles, France. He studied phenomenology under Maurice MERLEAU-PONTY. His doctoral work was entitled Discours, figure (1954). Lyotard began his academic career as a secondary school teacher in Algeria. It was there that he witnessed firsthand the brutality and oppression of colonialism. Throughout his life, Lyotard was politically active. He played a primary role in several leftist political groups, including one called Socialisme ou barbarie, from 1953 to 1963, which was comprised of intellectuals (Jean Laplanche and Claude Lefort, among others) and workers. This group wrote critical pieces about the French presence in Algeria and served as a kind of political model for many of the groups formed in the aftermath of May 1968 in Paris. Lyotard taught at the University of Nanterre and the University of Paris, in addition to holding posts at several American universities such as Yale, Emory, and the University of California,
Irvine. Besides being closely associated with postmodernism and a philosophy of desire, Lyotard’s work is wide ranging, covering topics as diverse as linguistic and political philosophy, aesthetics, and literature. His interest in art and art history led to his role as the curator of a 1985 exhibition, Les Immatériaux, at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
