A wider sense of normal? Seeking to understand Pierre Rivière through the lens of autism

This paper opens up the conceptual space of autism and Asperger's syndrome. Drawing on the work of Foucault and his colleagues on an extraordinary case of parricide in 19th century France (Foucault, 1975), it proposes a retrospective framework for inquiring into the mindset of the perpetrator, Pierre Rivière, and exploring his idiosyncratic behaviours. Although seemingly bizarre behaviours of people on the autistic spectrum are still considered pathological by some, current literature questions established boundaries of normality and suggests that autism is a condition better understood as one expression of the human condition. In line with the original work of Foucault and his colleagues this paper resists privileging the professional voice, in an attempt to disrupt conventional hierarchies of knowledge and authority. Instead, it draws on modern-day autobiographical accounts of people with a diagnosis of autism or Asperger's syndrome who describe, and explain from their personal perspectives, their own idiosyncratic behaviours. In doing so, this paper presents an across-the-centuries layered account as a framework for exploring Pierre Rivière's mindset and troubling established legal processes for pinpointing criminal responsibility.