Erotic Turn in French Phenomenology?

Abstract

One way to describe changes in the phenomenological movement is to announce the next “turns”. The best known is the “theological turn in French phenomenology” announced in 1991 by Dominique Janicaud, but there is also talk of an aesthetic, cognitive and other turn. In this paper, we want to investigate whether we can tell about an erotic turn in French phenomenology, and this is because of the important place in the study of corporeality, love, eroticism and sexuality in French authors. First, we show the French phenomenology as a place of spontaneous changes, excesses and turns. Then we look at the structure of turn, referring to Heidegger’s die Kehre as the paradigm. This is justified, since French phenomenology is much more rooted in Heidegger's thought than in Husserl’s. Interpretation of the term “turn” is ambiguous and we may speak of its four versions, which, taken together, form a chiasmic structure. After referring to it erotic studies in French phenomenologists, it should be stated that the “erotic turn” in French phenomenology exists and in the same time does not exist, that is, it has the character of a paradox. The erotic turn does not occur if understood as a critical point and a new beginning, or as a definitive transgression of metaphysics. However, we can note it as a return to forgotten phenomena, such as corporeality, intersubjectivity, and erotic relationship. Jean-Luc Marion attempts to formulate a new philosophy and theology based on the erotic phenomenon, which shows the turn as a step forward.