Michel de Certeau's 'La Fable mystique' Completed with Second Volume

The second volume of Michel de Certeau's 'La Fable mystique' has been published by Gallimard, completing the two-volume masterpiece first begun in 1982. Certeau (1925-1986), a Jesuit historian and one of the most original thinkers of his generation alongside Barthes, Foucault, Deleuze, and Derrida, explores the history and figures of mysticism from the 16th to 17th centuries in Europe. He examines how artists like Zurbarán and Bernini depicted the invisible, and discusses mystics such as Saint Francis, Saint Teresa, Meister Eckhart, and John of the Cross. Certeau analyzes the concept of the 'angelic speech' as a transgression that contests established order, and highlights Nicolas of Cusa's treatise 'De Icona' on vision and geometry. The book argues that mystics are marginal figures who constantly displace themselves, driven by desire that 'creates an excess' and never settles.