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Foucault the Author? Or should we see Michel Foucault as the author, whose work combines brilliant insight and eccentric detail, uniting contemporary philosophical practice with the archaeology of the many documents he patiently retrieved from history? And what should we exclude, given the huge shifts in theoretical position over his career? Foucault himself problematized the meaning of authorship- a function, he claimed, which resolved or hid many contradictions. We must dispense with our habit of looking for an author's authority, and show instead how the power of discourse constrains both author and his utterances. So Foucault was reluctant to write his own biography or have someone do it for him. But many have, since his death. 4
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A Transdiscursive Man Foucault gave us the term transdiscursive, which describes how, for example, Foucault is not simply an author of a book, but the author of a theory, tradition or discipline. We can at least say that he was the instigator of a method of historical inquiry which has had major effects on the study of subjectivity, power, knowledge, discourse, history, sexuality, madness, the penal system and much else. Hence the term, "Foucaldian". There are many "Foucaults" - whether they are all texts, or features in a network of institutional power, a regime of truth and knowledge, or the discourse of the author and his works. Let's explore the many layers of Foucault. 5

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A Transdiscursive Man

Foucault gave us the term transdiscursive, which describes how, for example, Foucault is not simply an author of a book, but the author of a theory, tradition or discipline.

We can at least say that he was the instigator of a method of historical inquiry which has had major effects on the study of subjectivity, power, knowledge, discourse, history, sexuality, madness, the penal system and much else. Hence the term, "Foucaldian".

There are many "Foucaults" - whether they are all texts, or features in a network of institutional power, a regime of truth and knowledge, or the discourse of the author and his works. Let's explore the many layers of Foucault.

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