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Sociologie et sociétés

Les techniques martiales orientales comme technologies dusoi : une réponse à Michel FoucaultOriental Martial Techniques as Technologies of the Self: AReply to Michel FoucaultFrançoise BOUDREAU

Entre le corps et le soi: une sociologie de la « subjectivation »Volume 24, Number 1, printemps 1992

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/001087arDOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/001087ar

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Publisher(s)Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal

ISSN0038-030X (print)1492-1375 (digital)

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Cite this articleBOUDREAU, F. (1992). Les techniques martiales orientales comme technologiesdu soi : une réponse à Michel Foucault. Sociologie et sociétés, 24 (1), 141–156.https://doi.org/10.7202/001087ar

Article abstractIn this paper we propose a reply to Michel Foucault's question : Is there a Selfor a subjectivization process in Oriental techniques ? The first more theoreticalpart examines the traditional discourse surrounding the relationships betweenbody, spirit and technique in the Oriental martial arts, focusing particularly onKarate-do (the Karate way), first as technologies of the self rooted in practicesof bodily combat, secondly as artistic operations of subjectivization, and finallyas aesthetics or a way of life. The second part of the paper addresses thequestion : But what is it like hi reality for those who practice these bodilytechniques ? An examination of various empirical sources points to a certaincontinuity between philosophy and experience of self and suggests that forthose who practice the traditional art of karate-do, it constitutes a truetechnology for improving and constructing the self : increased confidence,better relations with others, self mastery, and strength and flexibility ofcharacter.