http://www.humanitas.

ro/tzvetan-todorov

TZVETAN TODOROV, filozof, istoric, lingvist, critic literar i eseist francez de origine bulgar , s-a n scut la Sofia n 1939. Din 1963 s-a stabilit n Fran a. n 1970 a ob inut doctoratul de stat, iar n 1973 a devenit cet ean francez. Din 1968 a lucrat la CNRS, al c rui director a devenit n 1978, fiind n prezent director de cercetare onorific. Al turi de Roland Barthes i Grard Genette, a fost unul dintre marii teoreticieni ai filozofiei structuraliste. Primul s u eseu, Thorie de la littrature, textes des formalistes russes (1966), apoi Littrature et signification (1967) i Introduction la littrature fantastique (1970) i-au adus notorietatea, confirmat , n 1972, de Dictionnaire encyclopdique des sciences du langage. Reflec iile sale ulterioare au vizat alteritatea, via a n comun" (din perspectiv antropologic i istoric ), istoria umanismului. Tzvetan Todorov a fost visiting professor la cteva mari universit i americane, printre care Harvard, Yale, Columbia i University of California, Berkeley. A ob inut mai multe premii i distinc ii, printre care Medalia de Bronz a CNRS, Prix Charles Lvque acordat de Acadmie des Sciences Morales et Politiques i Premio Prncipe de Asturias de Ciencias Sociales. Bibliografie selectiv : Grammaire du Dcamron (1969; trad. rom. 1975); Introduction la littrature fantastique (1970; trad. rom. 1973); Potique de la prose (1971); Dictionnaire encyclopdique des sciences du langage (n colaborare cu Oswald Ducrot, 1972); Qu'est-ce que le structuralisme? Potique (1977); Thorie du symbole (1977; trad. rom. 1983); Les Genres du discours (1978); Mikhal Bakhtine, le principe dialogique (1981); La Conqute de l'Amrique: la question de l'autre (1982; trad. rom. 1994); Nous et les autres (1989; trad. rom. 1999); Les Morales de l'histoire (1991); La Vie commune: essai d'anthropologie gnrale (1995); Les Abus de la mmoire (1995; trad. rom. 1999); L'Homme dpays (1996; trad. rom. 1999); Mmoire du mal, tentation du bien (2000; trad. rom. 2002); Devoirs et dlices. Une vie de passeur (2002); L'Esprit des Lumires (2006); La Littrature en pril (2007); La Peur des barbares. Au-del du choc des civilisations (2008).

Tzvetan Todorov Via a comun Eseu de antropologie general

Se spune c omul este o fiin social . Dar ce nseamn asta? Care sunt urm rile observa iei banale c nu exist eu f r tu? n ce const , pentru individ, constrngerea de a nu cunoa te niciodat dect o via comun ? Tzvetan Todorov exploreaz construc ia sinelui i ofer o nou perspectiv asupra alterit ii. Dac n secolul al XVII-lea omul era considerat o f ptur asocial sau solitar , care nu avea nevoie de altcineva pentru a se sim i complet , ncepnd din secolul al XVIII-lea, odat cu scrierile lui Jean-Jacques Rousseau, perspectiva se schimb radical. Individul i define te identitatea doar n raport cu ceilal i, este rezultatul ntlnirilor cu ei, aspir la o recunoa tere pe care doar ace tia i-o pot acorda. Fericirea lui depinde exclusiv de privirea scrut toare a semenilor s i. Todorov analizeaz implica iile profunde ale acestei viziuni despre sine i societate n teoriile politice, filozofice i psihanalitice ale lui Adam Smith, Hegel, Georges Bataille, Freud, Melanie Klein i al ii, precum i n opera literar a lui Karl Philipp Moritz, Sade i Proust.

Confruntarea cu extrema. Victime si tortionari in secolul XX

Secolul XX se apropie de sfarsit si suntem, cu totii, tentati sa ne intrebam: care ii va fi locul in istorie? cum ne vom aminti de el intr-o buna zi? Nu stiu, si nimeni nu stie, raspunsul complet la aceste intrebari; am insa certitudinea ca amintirea secolului XX va fi marcata pentru totdeauna de o inventie a sa: lagarele totalitare. Am descoperit regimul politic extrem, totalitarismul, si extrema lui, lagarele. Aceasta institutie macabra se preteaza la tot felul de comentarii: istorice, politice, psihologice. Comentariul pe care-l propun aici, prin intermediul unei anchete narative si personale, e insa unul de ordin moral. Contrar unei prejudecati raspandite, viata morala nu a pierit in lagare; mai mult, s-ar putea ca tocmai aici sa gasim fundamentele unei morale cotidiene adecvata vremurilor noastre.
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzvetan_Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov
Tzvetan Todorov (n. 1 martie 1939 la Sofia in Bulgaria), este un cunoscut semiolog, lingvist i critic literar francez de origine bulgar . Todorov a cerut azil politic n Fran a n anul 1963. E unul din principalii teoreticieni ai fantasticului. Personalitate marcant n domeniul poeticii i teoriei literare moderne, abordeaz poetica din perspectiva studierii mecanismului discursului literar, analiznd tipurile de construc ie literar , categoriile de tropi i figuri ca modalit i poematice ale limbajului la nivel abstract, n scopul de a elabora o teorie a genurilor. Personalitate marcant n domeniul poeticii i a teoriei literare moderne, abordeaz poetica din perspectiva studierii mecanismului discursului literar. n calitate de director de cercet ri la C.N.R.S. a publicat numeroase eseuri cu caracter sociologic printre care i "Les Morales de l'Histoire", pentru care a primit premiul Jean Jacques Rousseau n 1991. mpreun cu Grard Genette a fost director al celebrei reviste de teorie a literaturii, Poetique. Todorov nu s-a dat nl turi s abordeze i chestiuni de natur etic , cum ar fi rela ia dintre cei coloniza i i coloni ti n Cucerirea Americii sau analiza vinov iei colective dup fenomenele Holocaustului sau Gulagului n Confruntarea cu extrema. Victime i tor ionari n secolul XX. Tzvetan a fost una dintre personalitatile cele mai marcante care s-au impus in domeniul fantasticului. Volume publicate. Semiotic . Naratologie. Teoria fantasticului
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Litterature et signification, 1967; (Literatur i semnifica ie) Grammaire du Decameron, 1969; (Gramatica Decameronului) Introduction la litterature fantastique, 1970;(versiunea romneasc , Introducere n literatura fantastic , Editura Univers, Bucure ti, 1973) Poetique de la prose, 1971; (Poetica prozei) L'enonciation, 1972 (Enun area) ; Thories du symbole, 1977; (Teoria simbolului)

Eseuri de sociologie si imagologie

n calitate de cercet tor la CNRS, a publicat numeroase volume de eseuri cu caracter sociologic, sau de imagologie printre care:
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Les Morales de l'Histoire (Moralele istoriei) premiul Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1991; La Conquete de l'Amerique; (Cucerirea Americii: Problema Celuilalt), traducere de Magda Jeanrenaud, Institutul European,Iasi,1994 Nous et les utres (Noi i ceilal i); traducere de Alexandru Vlad, Institutul European, Iasi,1999 Au nom du peuple (n numele poporului); L`Homme depaysee (Omul dezr d cinat, Iasi, Institutul European, 1999 Eloge du quotidien (Elogiul cotidianului); Une tragedie franaise (O tragedie francez ). Face l'extreme, Confruntarea cu extrema. victime i tor ionari n secolul XX, Bucure ti, Humanitas, 1996 Mmoire du mal, tentation du bien. Enquete sur le siecle, Memoria r ului, ispita binelui. O analiz a secolului, traducere de Magdalena Boiangiu, Alexandru Boiangiu, Curtea veche, 2002

Lucrari colective
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n colaborare cu Oswald Ducrot a coordonat Dictionnaire encyclopedique des sciences du langage, 1972, (Dic ionarul enclopedic al tiin elor limbajului). A antologat opera formali tilor ru i n (Theorie de la litterature, 1966).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzvetan_Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov (Bulgarian: ) (born March 1, 1939 in Sofia) is a FrancoBulgarian philosopher. He has lived in France since 1963 with his wife Nancy Huston and their two children, writing books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory. Contents
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1 Publications 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Theory 5 Bibliography 6 External links

Publications Todorov has published a total of 21 books, including The Poetics of Prose (1971), Introduction to Poetics (1981), The Conquest of America (1982), Mikhail Bakhtin: The Dialogical Principle (1984), Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps (1991), On Human Diversity (1993), Hope and Memory (2000), and Imperfect Garden: The Legacy of Humanism (2002). Todorov's historical interests have focused on such crucial issues as the conquest of The Americas and the Nazi and Stalinist concentration camps.

Career Todorov has been a visiting professor at several universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley. Awards Todorov's honors include the Bronze Medal of the CNRS, the Charles Lvque Prize of the Acadmie des Sciences Morales et Politiques and the first Maugean Prize of the Acadmie Franaise and the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences; he also is an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
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Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences

Theory Todorov's greatest contribution to literary theory was his defining of the Fantastic, the fantastic uncanny, and the fantastic marvelous. Todorov defines the fantastic as being any event that happens in our world that seems to be supernatural. Upon the occurrence of the event, we must decide if the event was an illusion or whether it is real and has actually taken place. Todorov uses Alvaro from Cazotte's Le Diable Amoureux as an example of a fantastic event. Alvaro must decide whether the woman he is in love with is truly a woman or if she is the devil. Upon choosing whether the event was real or imaginary, Todorov says that we enter into the genres of uncanny and marvelous. In the fantastic uncanny, the event that occurs is actually an illusion of some sort. The "laws of reality" remain intact and also provide a rational explanation for the fantastic event. Todorov gives examples of dreams, drugs, illusions of the senses, madness, etc. as things that could explain a fantastic/supernatural event. In the fantastic marvelous, the supernatural event that occurs has actually taken place and therefore the "laws of reality" have to be changed to explain the event. Only if the implied reader cannot opt for one or the other possibility, the text is purely fantastic. Aside from his work in literary theory, Todorov also dabbled in philosophy. He wrote Frail Happiness about the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He focuses on Rousseau's ideas of attaining human happiness and how we can live in 'modern' times. In one of his major works, "Facing the Extreme," Todorov asks whether it is true the Nazi concentration camps and the Soviet gulags revealed that in extreme situations "all traces of moral life evaporate as men become beasts locked in a merciless struggle for survival"(31 46). That opinion is commonplace of popularized accounts of the camps, and also appears in accounts of survivors themselves. Primo Levi, quoted in Todorov, writes that camp life is a "continuous war of everyone against everyone." To survive, all dignity and conscience had to be sacrificed and everyone is alone. Reports from gulag survivors are similar. However, in his reading of actual survivor testimonies, Todorov says the picture is not that bleak, that there are many examples of inmates helping each other and showing compassion in human relationships despite the inhumane conditions and terror. Survivors point out that survival always depended on the help of others. He concludes that life in the camps and gulag did not follow the law of the jungle and that the counterexamples are numerous, even in Levi's work.

Bibliography
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Introduction la littrature fantastique (1970), translated by Richard Howard as The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre in 1973 Conquest of America: The Question of the Other (1984), translated from the French by Richard Howard. Mikhail Bakhtin : the dialogical principle (1984), translated by Wlad Godzich. On human diversity : nationalism, racism, and exoticism in French thought (1993), translated by Catherine Porter. French tragedy : scenes of civil war, summer 1944 (1996), translated by Mary Byrd Kelly ; translation edited and annotated by Richard J. Golsan. Voices from the Gulag : Life and Death in Communist Bulgaria (1999), Tzvetan Todorov (ed.) ; translated by Robert Zaretsky. A Passion for Democracy: Benjamin Constant (1999), translated by Alice Seberry. Facing the extreme : moral life in the concentration camps (2000), translated by Arthur Denner and Abigail Pollack. Fragility of goodness : why Bulgaria's Jews survived the Holocaust (2001), a collection of texts with commentary by Tzvetan Todorov. Life in common : an essay in general anthropology (2001), translated by Katherine Golsan and Lucy Golsan ; with a new afterword by the author. Frail Happiness: An Essay on Rousseau (2001), translated by John T. Scott and Robert D. Zaretsky Imperfect garden : the legacy of humanism (2002), translated by Carol Cosman. Hope and memory : lessons from the twentieth century (2003), translated by David Belos. New world disorder : reflections of a European (2005), preface by Stanley Hoffmann ; translated by Andrew Brown. In Defence of the Enlightenment (2009), translated by Gila Walker. The fear of barbarians : beyond the clash of civilizations (2010), translated by Andrew Brown Muros cados, muros erigidos (2011), translated by Zoraida de Torres Burgos (French) "'Humanisme, libralisme et esprit des Lumires, entretien de Karim Emile Bitar avec Tzvetan Todorov' ('Humanism, Liberalism and the Spirit of the Enlightenment')". L'ENA hors les murs. June, 2007. http://cyrano.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/04/01/entretien-avectzvetan-todorov-humanisme-liberalisme-et-esprit-des-lumieres/. (French) "'L'esprit des Lumires a encore beaucoup faire dans le monde d'aujourd'hui' ('The Spirit of the Enlightenment still has a lot to do in today's world')". Le Monde. March 4, 2006. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3246,36-747585@51-696669,0.html. "'In search for lost crime: Tribunals, apologies, reparations, and the search for justice.'" (PDF). The New Republic. January 26, 2001. http://www.iphimeda.be/Todorov__2001__in_search_of_lost_crimes___reparations.pdf.

External links
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Tzvetan Todorov on the Enlightenment Today, a nineteen minute interview on Philosophy Bites The Tzvetan Todorov Book Interview, The Tzvetan Todorov Book Interview. Interview with Tzvetan Todorov: It is surprising to see so many walls erected in the midst of globalisation , Barcelona Metropolis, num. 78, Spring 2010

http://www.edituraart.ro/autor/todorov-tzvetan

Tzvetan Todorov (n. 1 martie 1939 la Sofia, n Bulgaria), semiolog, lingvist i critic literar francez de origine bulgar , are o contribu ie remarcabil n domeniul poeticii i al teoriei literare moderne. A publicat numeroase eseuri cu caracter sociologic, printre care i Les Morales de lHistoire, pentru care a primit premiul Jean Jacques Rousseau, n 1991. A mai publicat i urm toarele titluri: Litterature et signification, 1967, Grammaire du Decameron, 1969, Introducere n literatura fantastic , Editura Univers, 1973, Thories du symbole, 1977.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/tzvetan-todorov-dlb/

Dictionary of Literary Biography on Tzvetan Todorov From his earliest publications on literary theory in the mid 1960s, to his moral enquiries into identity, responsibility, and ethics in his more-recent historical studies, Tzvetan Todorov has established himself as one of the foremost contemporary European literary and cultural theorists. While the fields of literary criticism and cultural history continue to relax their boundaries, thereby increasingly accommodating and influencing each other, Todorov ranks among the finest of writers whose works have moved easily between literary theory and its application in critical readings of important historical narratives. When Todorov was named a Clark Fellow at Cornell University in March 1997, the eminent historian Dominick LaCapra was quoted in a Cornell press release as remarking "In his early work, Todorov's approach tended to be structuralist, and he was noted for his brilliant analyses of literary texts. More recently, he has become interested in historical and moral problems, notably including ethics in everyday life.

Todorov Tzvetan Via a comun

Se spune c omul este o fiin social . Dar ce nseamn asta? Care sunt urm rile observa iei banale c nu exist eu f r tu? n ce const , pentru individ, constrngerea de a nu cunoa te niciodat dect o via comun ? Tzvetan Todorov exploreaz construc ia sinelui i ofer o nou perspectiv asupra alterit ii. Dac n secolul al XVII-lea omul era considerat o f ptur asocial sau solitar , care nu avea nevoie de altcineva pentru a se sim i complet , ncepnd din secolul al XVIII-lea, odat cu scrierile lui Jean-Jacques Rousseau, perspectiva se schimb radical. Individul i define te identitatea doar n raport cu ceilal i, este rezultatul ntlnirilor cu ei, aspir la o recunoa tere pe care doar ace tia i-o pot acorda. Fericirea lui depinde exclusiv de privirea scrut toare a semenilor s i. Todorov analizeaz implica iile profunde ale acestei viziuni despre sine i societate n teoriile politice, filozofice i psihanalitice ale lui Adam Smith, Hegel, Georges Bataille, Freud, Melanie Klein i al ii, precum i n opera literar a lui Karl Philipp Moritz, Sade i Proust.