The literary dimension of the diagnosis of the present in Foucault

Abstract

In this article we propose a research on the foucauldian definition of the role of philosophy as the construction of a diagnostic of the present. We sustain that the foucauldian thought on the diagnostic of the present incorporates some of his considerations on the modern language and literature. This appropriation is highlighted through the themes of the erase of one’s own face, the relation between language and death, and his article on Georges Bataille. In order to sustain this hsypothesis of reading, we list a series of threads and diplacements of ideas in texts published in different moments of his work, which suggest the existence of a literary dimension of the diagnostic. We conclude by presenting some further ethical and political repercussions of all those considerations in some of his later works. This is presented as a sign that Foucault’s relation with the literary thought is deep in such a way that it can be found in his considerations on history and the functioning of his own books as books-experience.