A guide to navigating your way around the different versions of this foundational text of situationist theory and associated commentaries.
As a matter of fact, I believe that there is nobody in the world capable of being interested in my book apart from those who are enemies of the existing social order and who act efficaciously, starting from this position. [...]
In 1967 I wanted the Situationist International to have a book of theory. The SI was at this time the extremist group that had done the most to bring back revolutionary contestation to modern society; and it was easy to see that this group, having imposed its victory on the terrain of critical theory, and having skillfully followed through on the terrain of practical agitation, was then drawing near the culminating point of its historical action. So it was a question of such a book being present in the troubles that were soon to come and that would pass it on after them to the vast subversive sequel that these troubles could not fail to open up.
Preface to the fourth Italian edition of The Society of the Spectacle
- Guy Debord
La Société du Spectacle was first published in 1967 by Editions Buchet-Chastel (Paris); it was reprinted in 1971 by Champ Libre (Paris).
Fredy Perlman and friends
The first published English translation was made collectively by Fredy Perlman and friends in Detroit:
The translating sessions, attended by Hannah [Ziegellaub], Jon [Supak], Judy [Campbell]. Don [Campbell], Fredy and me, usually turned into commentary on the author’s observations. We all found examples to illustrate the truth of his theories, frequently citing our experiences in establishing a print shop without recourse to hierarchy or bureaucracy. As a model of collaborative activity, this translating effort had visible flaws. When there were differences on how to formulate a passage, it was usually Fredy’s version that was finally accepted. Fredy’s stubbornness occasionally seemed unkind but when he firmly believed that his choice was better, he refused to give way. He felt that accepting an inferior formulation in order to protect another’s self-image was doing a disservice to the common project as well as behaving condescendingly to the individual. The disagreements, in fact, were rarely substantive. A typical one centered on the word “cleavage.” Jon objected to using the word in the context of Debord’s analysis because to him “cleavage”suggested only a feature of a woman’s body.
Debord’s book was profoundly understood by all of us who worked first on translating it and then printing it. Although the Situationists’ “coherence of the critique” was viewed skeptically (as a potential rigid ideology)1 and a photo of the French Situationists was included in the chapter that denounces selfappointed centralized decision-making, translating Debord’s book was a rewarding activity for us in the Detroit of 1970.
Having Little, Being Much: A Chronicle of Fredy Perlman’s Fifty Years
- Lorraine Perlman
This was jointly published by Red & Black (Detroit) and Radical America magazine in 1970:
Radical America #04.05: Society of the Spectacle
As sure as night follows day, this translation was roundly criticised - by the recently formed American Section of the Situationist International, who issued a poster:
To nonsubscribers of Radical America
The Perlman et al translation was revised in 1977, "incorporating numerous improvements by friends and critics". The iconic "movie-goers" photograph was added to the cover for its 1983 edition (without input from Debord):
Society of the Spectacle - Guy Debord (1983 Black & Red edition)
Ken Knabb
Ken Knabb is probably best known for translating the texts which formed the Situationist International Anthology, originally published in 1981.
In 2002 he also published online his own translation of Society of the Spectacle:
Society of the Spectacle - Guy Debord (Knabb, 2002)
This version is also available as a printable PDF by Treason Press: Society of the Spectacle - Guy Debord - Treason pamphlet
Knabb produced an updated translation with annotations as nicely formatted PDF in 2014:
The Society of the Spectacle (Annotated Edition) - Guy Debord
His translation work is ongoing and the most recent version (2024 at the time of writing) can be found at his Bureau of Public Secrets website.
Ron Adams
This book isn’t as much a straight translation as it is an elaboration, or ‘remix’ that attempts to reveal more under the text than existed in the original and its various translations.
Adams published his translation in 2022, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License:
The Society of the Spectacle - Guy Debord (Adams 2022)
Debord's prefaces, forewords and commentaries
The author would continue to have interesting insights on his text throughout the rest of his life...
Preface to the fourth Italian edition of The Society of the Spectacle
Available on Libcom here.
Debord's extensive 1979 Preface commences with his own negative views of previous translations of the book, including:
There was nothing worse than the situation it Italy, however, where, as early as 1968, the publisher De Donato put out the most monstrous one of all, which has only been partially improved upon by the two rival translations that followed. Moreover, Paolo Salvadori, having gone to find those responsible for this excess in their offices, had hit them and had even literally spat in their faces, for such is naturally the way good translators act when they meet bad ones. It suffices to say that the fourth Italian translation, which is by Salvadori, is excellent.
The Preface goes on to cover the original conditions which lead to Society of the Spectacle being produced and some harsh words for the book's reviewers and much of its readership. The bulk of the text covers Debord's analysis of recent events in Italy, including the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, The Red Brigades etc. More generally Debord gets into changes in production and the operation of governments.
Inevitably the English translation of the Preface generated its own intra-translator arguments:
Note: the original English translation of Debord's January 1979 Preface, made by Michel Prigent and Lucy Forsyth in October 1979 and published by Chronos Publications (BM Chronos, London WC1N 3XX), was riddled with both typographical errors and badly worded English phrases. The text presented here has been both proofread and copy edited by NOT BORED!, which also added the footnotes. When necessary, the original translation has been modified.
Comments on the Society of the Spectacle
Available on Libcom here.
I am going to outline certain practical consequences, still little known, of the spectacle’s rapid extension over the last twenty years.
Debord's substantial reflections in 1988, including the fusion of the "concentrated spectacular" and the "diffuse spectacular" into the new "integrated spectacular."
Foreword to the Third French Edition of The Society of the Spectacle
Available on Libcom here.
It is necessary to read this book with the idea in mind that it was intentionally written to harm spectacular society. This has never been an extravagant claim.
A very brief introduction from 1992, which includes Debord's insights into developments in Russia.
Guy Debord died on 30th November 1994. aged 62.
Commentaries by others
Debord seems to have been quite taken with Giorgio Agamben's Marginal Notes on Comments on Society of the Spectacle from 1989.
Ken Knabb has produced helpful notes on the text, here, for reference.
Thoughts on the Society of the Spectacle - Audio Anarchy - The Audio Anarchy collective read selections of Society of the Spectacle and reflect on them.
There is also a discussion thread in which Libcom contributors talk about their preferred translations of Society of the Spectacle.
Printed book versions of Society of the Spectacle in English
- Translation by Fredy Perlman and friends ("Radical America Series", Detroit: Black & Red, 1970; rev. ed. 1977; reprinted by AK Press, 2005).
- Translation by Donald Nicholson-Smith (Zone, 1994).
- Translation by Ken Knabb (Rebel Press, 2004; PM Press, 2024)
- Translation by Ron Adams (Unredacted Word, 2021)
Comments