Guy Debord
| Guy Louis Debord | |
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| Born |
December 28, 1931 Paris, France |
| Died | November 30, 1994 (aged 62) Bellevue-la-Montagne, Haute-Loire, France |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School |
Western Marxism Letterist International Situationist |
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Main interests
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Social theory Reification Commodity fetishism Class struggle Social alienation |
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Notable ideas
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Spectacle Détournement Psychogeography Dérive Recuperation |
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Influences
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Influenced
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| Signature | |
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Guy Louis Debord (French: [gi dəbɔʁ]; December 28, 1931 – November 30, 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International (SI). He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.
Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931. Debord's father, Martial, was a pharmacist who died due to illness when Debord was young. Debord's mother, Paulette Rossi, sent Guy to live with his grandmother in her family villa in Italy. During World War II, the Rossis left the villa and began to travel from town to town. As a result, Debord attended high school in Cannes, where he began his interest in film and vandalism. As a young man, Debord actively opposed the French war in Algeria and joined in demonstrations in Paris against it. Debord studied Law at the University of Paris, but left early and did not complete his college education. After ending his stint at the University of Paris, he began his career as a writer.
In November 1994, Debord ended his life with a bullet to the head (some say to the heart). His suicide is as controversial as it is unclear. Some assert this act was a revolutionary one in relation to his career. Due to his involvement with the radical Situationist International (SI), as well as his fallen sadness from ‘the society as a spectacle’ being considered a cliche term in later life, many think that Debord felt a weight of sadness for the very society he was trying to shed light on. Debord was said to be “victim of the Spectacle he fought”. Among the many commentaries on Debord's demise, one scholar noted: “Guy Debord did not kill himself. He was murdered by the thoughtlessness and selfishness of so-called scholars (primarily trendy lit-criters) who colonized his brilliant ideas and transformed his radical politics into an academic status symbol not worth the pulp it's printed on…” While his attempt at suicide in 1994 would be fatal, this was not the first time Debord attempted to end his life.
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