Raoul Vaneigem (; born 21 March 1934) is a Belgian writer known for his 1967 book ''

The Revolution of Everyday Life ''The Revolution of Everyday Life'' (french: Traité de savoir-vivre à l’usage des jeunes générations) is a 1967 book by Raoul Vaneigem, Belgian author and onetime member of the Situationist International (1961–1970). The original title lit ...

''. He was born in

Lessines Lessines (; nl, Lessen, ; pcd, Lissene, wa, Lissene) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. As of the 2014 census, The municipality's total population was 18,637. The total area is 72.29 km² (27 ...

( Hainaut, Belgium) and studied romance

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

from 1952 to 1956. He was a member of the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

from 1961 to 1970.

Biography

Vaneigem and

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationis ...

were two of the principal theorists of the Situationist movement. Vaneigem's slogans frequently made it onto the walls of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

during the May 1968 uprisings. His most famous book, and the one that contains the most famous slogans, is ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. In it, he challenged what he called "passive nihilism", a passive acceptance of the absurdities of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

which he considered "an overture to conformism". According to the website ''nothingness.org'',

The voice of Raoul Vaneigem was one of the strongest of the Situationists. Counterpoised to Guy Debord's political and polemic style, Vaneigem offered a more poetic and spirited prose. ''The Revolution of Everyday Life'' (''Traité de savoir-vivre à l'usage des jeunes générations''), published in the same year as ebord's''
The Society of the Spectacle ''The Society of the Spectacle'' (french: La société du spectacle) is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. The book is considered a semin ...
'', helped broaden and balance the presentation of the SI's theories and practices. One of the longest SI members, and frequent editor of the journal ''Internationale Situationniste'', Vaneigem finally left the SI in November 1970, citing their failures as well as his own in his letter of resignation. Soon after, Debord issued a typically scathing response denouncing both Vaneigem and his critique of the Situationist International.www.nothingness.org
which also has additional biographical material. See als

After leaving the Situationist International, Vaneigem wrote a series of polemical books defending the idea of a free and self-regulating

social order The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social order ...

. He frequently made use of pseudonyms, including "Ratgeb", "Julienne de Cherisy," "Robert Desessarts," "Jules-François Dupuis," "Tristan Hannaniel," "Anne de Launay," and "Michel Thorgal." Further on, he defended freedom of speech including

holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

, in ''Nothing is sacred, everything can be said'', edited by Robert and

Emmanuelle Ménard Emmanuelle Ménard (née Duverger, 15 August 1968) is a French journalist and politician who has represented the 6th constituency of Hérault in the National Assembly since 2017. Career International Federation for Human Rights A native of Li ...

, to whom the philosopher

Michel Onfray Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such think ...

dedicated his ''Traité d'athéologie'', and later on Bruno Gaccio and

Dieudonné M'bala M'bala Dieudonné M'bala M'bala (; born 11 February 1966), generally known by his stage name Dieudo, is a French comedian, actor and political activist. He has been convicted for hate speech, advocating terrorism, and slander in Belgium, France and Sw ...

, responded in ''Can everything can be said ?'', prefaced again by

Robert Ménard Robert Ménard (born 6 July 1953) is a French far-right politician, currently serving as Mayor of Béziers. Formerly a journalist, he was a co-founder of the Paris-based international non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders, act ...

. }

Partial bibliography

''The Revolution of Everyday Life''
(''Traité de savoir-vivre à l'usage des jeunes générations'') *
Traité de savoir-vivre à l'usage des jeunes générations
' *

' (''The Book of Pleasures''), 1979, reprinted 1993. * ''L'Ile aux delices'' (''The Island of Delights''), an erotic novel, 1979. * ''Le mouvement du libre-esprit'' ('' The Movement of the Free Spirit''), 1986. *
Adresse aux vivants sur la mort qui les gouverne et l'opportunité de s'en défaire
', 1990 * ''Lettre de Staline à ses enfants enfin réconciliés de l'Est et de l'Ouest'', 1992 * ''La résistance au christianisme. Les hérésies des origines au XVIIIe siècle'', 1993 * ''Les hérésies'', 1994 *
Avertissement aux écoliers et lycéens
', 1995 * ''Nous qui désirons sans fin'', 1996 * ''La Paresse'', 1996 * ''Notes sans portée'', 1997 * ''Dictionnaire de citations pour servir au divertissement et à l'intelligence du temps'', 1998 * ''Déclaration des droits de l'être humain. De la souveraineté de la vie comme dépassement des droits de le l'homme'', 2001 * ''Pour une internationale du genre humain'', 2001 * ''Salut à Rabelais ! Une lecture au présent'', 2003 * ''Rien n'est sacré, tout peut se dire. Réflexions sur la liberté d'expression'', 2003 * ''Le Chevalier, la Dame, le Diable et la Mort'', 2003 * ''Modestes propositions aux grévistes'', 2004 * ''Journal imaginaire'', 2005

References

mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

recording of Vaneigem's essay of the same name, from th
Audio Anarchy project
* Raoul Vaneigem Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaneigem, Raoul 1934 births Living people People from Lessines Belgian writers in French Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Situationists Critics of work and the work ethic Refusal of work Anti-consumerists Walloon people Philosophers of technology

Biography

Partial bibliography

References

Further reading

External links