Commentaire Explained

Commentaire
Editor6:	-->
Editor Title6:	-->
Frequency:	Quarterly
Circulation Year:	2008
Total Circulation:	6000
Country:	France
Language:	French
Issn:	0180-8214
Eissn:	2272-8988

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

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,, and . 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

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

• Editorial Board (Conseil de rédaction):,, Guy Berger, Alain Besançon, Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Nathalie Delapalme, Gilles Étrillard, Marc Fumaroli, Pierre Manent, George de Ménil, Philippe Meyer, François Sureau, Philippe Trainar, Michel Zink
• Editorial Committee (Comité de rédaction): Cédric Argenton, Jean Baechler, Guillaume Barrera, Karol Beffa, Jacques Bille, Dominique Bocquet, Michel Bourdeau,, Christopher Caldwell, Gwendal Châton, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, Benedetta Craveri, Jean-Marc Daniel,,, Michel Duclos, Bruno Durieux, Vincent Feré, Louis de Fouchécour,, Jean Gatty, François Gorand, Donatien Grau, Sylviane Guillaumont, Patrick Guillaumont, Michel Gurfinkiel,, Pierre Hassner, Jean-Vincent Holeindre,,, Pierre Kende, Annie Kriegel,, Armand Laferrère, Guillaume Lagane, Mathieu Laine, Vincent Laloy, Alain Lancelot, Alain Laurent, Tristan Lecoq,, Didier Maillard, Béatrice Majnoni d'Intignano, Sophie-Caroline de Margerie, Hervé Mariton, François de Mazières, Paul Mentré, Christophe Mercier, Thierry de Montbrial,,, Benoît Pellistrandi, Rémy Prud'Homme,, Pierre Rigoulot, Hervé Robert, Giuseppe Sacco,, Maryvonne de Saint-Pulgent,, Dominique Schnapper, Antoine Schnapper, Mark Sherringham, Christine Sourgins,,, Éric Thiers, Françoise Thom, Nicolas Véron, Jean-Philippe Vincent,

See also

• Le Débat
• Esprit
• Études
• Revue des deux Mondes

Notes and References

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