Didier Éribon’s dialogue with Ernst Gombrich, first published in 1991 in France, stands as a curious example of interpreting a scientific mind into a popular narrative. On the occasion of its brand new translation in Korean, this essay examines the encounter of two different languages, that of scholarly art history and the other, of “entretien”. Éribon’s previous interviews with Georges Dumézil and Claude Lévi-Strauss have already shown the perfect use of dialogue that interprets in simple words some currents of European thoughts of 20th century at its highest level. The double identity found in the extraordinary profile of the author of The Story of Art should help us deal with this particular form of dialogue in depth, and expect another possibility of explaining and reconstructing academia.

Ernst Gombrich, Didier Eribon, Dialogue, Art History, Intellectual History