On 28 June 1962, Claude Lévi-Strauss took part in the festivities surrounding the 250th anniversary of Rousseau's birth by giving a lecture at the Université ouvrière in Geneva entitled "Jean-Jacques Rousseau, founder of the human sciences". His words surprised the audience. Another Rousseau was emerging where no one expected him to be. This move was important for the history of Rousseau's reception, but also, to a certain extent, for the history of anthropology. On Thursday 12 May 2022, the MEG will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of this conference. The actress Anne Durand will offer a complete reading of this text. Vincent Debaene and Martin Rueff will situate it in its history. They will turn it towards the present.

Speakers

Anne Durand is an actress. She has made a name for herself through her interpretations of repertory theatre (from Molière to Beckett, whose Oh les Beaux jours she revived in 2020, playing a marvellous Winnie) but also through the clarity of her commitments.

Vincent Debaene is professor of modern and contemporary literature at the UNIGE. A specialist in the relationship between anthropology and literature, he edited the complete works of Lévi-Strauss in the Pléiade (Gallimard, 2008). His book, L'adieu au voyage. L'ethnologie française entre science et littérature (Paris, Gallimard, 2010), is considered a classic.

Martin Rueff is a professor of literature at the UNIGE, a specialist in the work and thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and director of the Société Jean-Jacques Rousseau de Genève.

This meeting will be held in French.

In collaboration with the Société Jean-Jacques Rousseau.