Avital Ronell's French Debut: Three Books Published Simultaneously

Philosopher Avital Ronell, a key figure in French Theory-inspired American academia, has three books published in French for the first time this autumn: 'American Philo' and 'Stupidity' by Stock, and 'Telephone Book' by Bayard. Born in Prague to Israeli diplomat parents, Ronell studied under Jacob Taubes in Berlin, then with Jacques Derrida and Hélène Cixous in Paris, later teaching comparative literature at Berkeley. She also maintains a parallel career as a performance artist. 'American Philo', an interview with Anne Dufourmantelle, introduces her work from Goethe to Valerie Solanas. 'Stupidity' revalues stupidity as philosophy's true other, not a pathology but a fundamental figure of being-in-the-world, tracing it from Hölderlin to Derrida. 'Telephone Book' (1989 original) is a philosophical and graphic creation in telephone directory form, linking Heidegger's concept of 'call' to the telephone, including the 1933 SA call to Heidegger. Ronell's work tests postmodern theory against technology, AIDS, and drugs, embodying an impure philosophy.