'The body is the heart of the world'. Interview with David Le Breton

Abstract

David Le Breton is a sociologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Strasbourg. His research addresses the status of the body in contemporary society from a number of aspects. Deeply involved in the vindication of our bodily condition, Le Breton revalues walking as an act of resistance in times of post-humanism.

In the fall of 2019 I did a research stay at the University of Strasbourg supervised by Le Breton that allowed me to delve into his thinking and to get to know him personally. The first thing that surprised me was his tall stature that intensifies his idealistic appearance by likening him to Giacometti’s Homme qui marche. His eyes and voice convey the deep humanity of those who enjoy listening. The interview was carried out with a game purposely designed for the occasion in which each card corresponded to a question (Fig.1), a playful idea to add movement involving gestures (the body), visual and some serendipity. Le Breton, a big fan of theater, participated with amusement. Topics of the interview, starting with walking, followed with corporality, transhumanism, anthropology, calling on numerous philosophers, sociologists and artists, obtaining a document of considerable value for research in art and anthropology.