The Erosion of Elitism: How Theory Fell from its French Throne

In academia’s rarefied world, theory once reigned supreme. This era saw esoteric debates, grand pronouncements, and continental philosophies dominating the intellectual landscape. However, beneath the façade of impenetrable language and high-brow discourse lay a reality of narcissism, arrogance, and personal excess.

Emily Eakin’s memoir, The Frenchmen: Or, My Life in Theory, offers an unflinching look at this bygone era. A former academic turned journalist, Eakin has written an engaging and accessible account of the development of structuralist and poststructuralist thought. Her narrative is both a chronicle of human folly and a testament to the enduring influence of these ideas on American culture.

At its center are the French thinkers who dominated the intellectual landscape in the mid-20th century: Sartre, Derrida, Lacan, Althusser, Foucault. These figures were not just academics; they were celebrities whose names became synonymous with sophistication and intellectual rigor. However, behind their erudite facades lay complex webs of personal relationships, rivalries, and psychological quirks.

The French thinkers were known for their brilliance but also for their inflated egos. Lacan was infamous for his high-handed therapeutic practices, while Althusser’s mental instability was a topic of whispered concern among his peers. Foucault’s public persona belied a private life marked by closeted relationships and ideological fervor. Sartre, the great existentialist philosopher, embodied the very qualities he wrote about: freedom, responsibility, and individual struggle against societal constraints.

Eakin’s account is not just a nostalgic look back at this era; it’s also a critique of the elitism that defined it. The French thinkers mastered a language both poetic and impenetrable. They spoke of “signifiers” and “signifieds,” of “différance” and “supplementarity.” But as Eakin notes, this language was not just a tool for intellectual exploration; it was also a means of exclusion.

Theorists like Derrida and Foucault reveled in the complexity of their ideas, often at the expense of clarity. They argued that meaning was always slipping away, that language was a web of signifiers that could never be pinned down. However, as Eakin shows, this intellectual posturing masked a deeper anxiety: the fear that their own theories might be found wanting.

The French thinkers’ influence on American culture cannot be overstated. Their ideas about language, power, and subjectivity have shaped generations of thinkers and writers. But as Eakin’s book suggests, their legacy is also one of elitism and exclusivity. Theorists like Derrida and Foucault may have been masters of a rarefied intellectual language, but they were also perpetrators of an elite culture that left many outsiders bewildered.

In the end, Eakin’s memoir serves as both a history of theory and a warning about the dangers of elitism. As we continue to grapple with the complexities of global politics and cultural identity, it is essential to remember the lessons of the French thinkers: that intellectual power can be both creative and corrosive, and that the pursuit of knowledge must always be tempered by humility and compassion.

Eakin’s narrative concludes with a poignant observation: the drama between these intellectuals was “a match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, or Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal: riveting—and too closely fought to judge the rightful winner.” Ultimately, it was not just about winning but about the human cost of their intellectual games.