Differences, volume 34, number 1, May 2023

I am thrilled to announce that the special issue of the journal Differences that I co-edited with Jacques Khalip, is now out from Duke University Press.

“Syntax of Thought: Reading Leo Bersani” includes short essays by 35 contributors, covering every period of Bersani’s long career, and nearly every aspect of his incredibly diverse range of topics and fields, from modern French literature to the theory of sexuality, aesthetics, critical readings of psychoanalytic theory, film, art, ethics, and sociality. 

Each author was asked to choose a sentence by Bersani that spoke to them and has informed their work. And to write an essay that elaborates on the conceptual formulation and ramifications borne by the sentence, while also attesting to the inimitable style and syntax of Bersani’s thinking. 

At close to 300-pages, this is not only the largest issue ever published by the journal, but also stands as the most extensive inter-disciplinary and trans-generational engagement with Leo Bersani’s work, as well as the many essays and books he co-authored with Ulysse Dutoit. Published just a bit more than a year after Leo’s passing, the volume provides multiple pathways back into his work, and the experience of “re-registering” the currency of Bersani’s thought today. 

I think you will find the essays to be revelatory, insightful, inspired, and beautifully crafted.