Commentaire is a French quarterly magazine, created in 1978 by Raymond Aron and Jean-Claude Casanova.[1]

Commentaire
Building at 76, rue des Saints-Pères in Paris, office of Commentaire since 2021
FrequencyQuarterly
Total circulation
(2008)
6000
First issue1978; 46 years ago (1978)
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Websitewww.commentaire.fr
ISSN0180-8214 (print)
2272-8988 (web)

Aron's previous journal venture, started in 1970 and titled Contrepoint, had been terminated in 1976 following disagreements among its founders and its owner Patrick Devedjian. In a wide-ranging 2008 interview, Casanova described the decision to create Commentaire as having been made in late 1977 and involving, besides Aron and himself, a group of common friends that included Annie Kriegel, Jean Baechler, Alain Besançon, François Bourricaud [fr], and Kostas Papaïoannou [fr]. The journal's motto, a quote from Pericles, was suggested by Papaioannou: Il n’y a pas de bonheur sans liberté, ni de liberté sans vaillance ("there can be neither happiness without liberty, nor liberty without courage"). Pierre Manent was the author of a manifesto explaining the journal's purpose in the first issue.[1]

Among the journal's avowedly liberal inspirations, Casanova cited Montesquieu, Benjamin Constant, Alexis de Tocqueville, Élie Halévy, and Aron himself.[2]

The journal relies largely on volunteer work and a small administrative staff. In 2008, it printed 6,000 copies and had 3,800 subscribers, the rest being sold in bookstores and news shops.[3]

A specific feature is the abundance of selected quotes in each of the journal's issues. A section titled sans commentaire ("no comment") includes involuntary comical quotes, often from political leaders or ideological commentators.[4]

In 2017, Commentaire made all its past published articles available online.[5] Like its center-left peer Esprit, it is self-published and not dependent on a large publishing house.[6]

Affiliates

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As of early 2021, Commentaire's website mentioned two circles of affiliates (including past and deceased ones):[7]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b François Quinton (10 April 2008). "Entretien avec Jean-Claude Casanova (1) : La création de la revue". nonfiction.fr.
  2. ^ François Quinton (10 April 2008). "Entretien avec Jean-Claude Casanova (2) : Le libéralisme". nonfiction.fr.
  3. ^ François Quinton (10 April 2008). "Entretien avec Jean-Claude Casanova (5) : Le modèle économique". nonfiction.fr.
  4. ^ François Quinton (10 April 2008). "Entretien avec Jean-Claude Casanova (6) : Commentaire dans le paysage intellectuel". nonfiction.fr.
  5. ^ Alice Develey (1 August 2017). "Commentaire, une revue à la page". Le Figaro.
  6. ^ Nicolas Truong (20 September 2020). "La fin de la revue " Le Débat " suscite des lectures divergentes dans le milieu de la pensée française". Le Monde.
  7. ^ "Qui sommes-nous ?". Commentaire.