Anthony Hopkins

Presentation

The Journal stopped is a book published in October 2002, the shortly after the historical defeat of Lionel Jospin to the French presidential elections by Sylviane Agacinski, wife of this candidate demolishes.

The author presents to us this book like a Diary writes between the January 24th and the May 25th 2002. Sylvianne Agacinski thus intends to make share its experiment of witness privileged with all the more of truth which the text was not initially intended for the publication (the suspicieux reader is of course free to question this assertion of the author).

Summary and comments

Sylviane Agacinski begins this book (as well the foreword written after the decision to publish as notes of the first days) by justifying its need to hold such a book by the unusual pressure which the countryside makes him feel to come, as well as the need to keep a trace of this event which engages the future of her husband and thus also it his. The book describes then from day to day, generally rather summarily, the activities and reflections of the author who also intercalates there by place of the articles intended for various newspapers.

One can separate this newspaper in two parts at least: from the 24/01 to the 19/04 and the 23/04 to the 25/05.

The first part (the electoral campaign) contains some rather general remarks on the left, the countryside like some personal reflections randomly of an article read in the newspaper. It is also in this part that one finds some of the articles published by S. Agacinski during this period. The topic of feminism (very appreciated by the philosopher) is almost more present than the policy. Some judge this part of the work of little interest from a political point of view.

In the second part, the author evokes the causes of the defeat of her husband (division of the left in the foreground, crisis of the democracy and diversion of the political debate by the line as by the media according to it having played much more than the clean responsibility - that it does not deny however - for his/her husband) then comments on the reactions (left, media, “youth”…) following this “clap of thunder”. Some consider this part more interesting, because it evokes situations lending to controversy, which authorizes the author required many reflections and criticisms.

Conclusion

There the days having followed the publication of the Newspaper stopped , this one was the subject of a rather sharp polemic (within the left mainly), the ones considering “normal” that S. Agacinski wished to share its experiment, others seeing a new demonstration of “the arrogance” of the Jospin couple, “as if the French did not deserve them”, some going until speaking about a new low blow of Jospin to the left which pains to be raised.

Certain readers evoked the limited interest of this book, and judge that it does not bring large-thing which was not already known as on this first memorable turn. Sometimes they regret also the “telegraphic” style and the very general character of these notes (while at the same time certain remarks could have been a pretext with a more thorough reflection). Others protest that it is of a newspaper and not a test “philosophico-policy”, and that there its interest resides.

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