Maurice Blanchot is perhaps best known as a literary critic. His texts on Kafka, Mallarme, Beckett and others make him one of the most influential critics of twentieth century literature. But he is equally influential as an incisive reader of philosophy through his enigmatic interpretations of Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault and Derrida.
Leslie Hill offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to one of the key figures in the development of postmodern thought. He shows how Blanchot questions the very essence of philosophy and literature, and stresses the importance of his political writings and the relationship between writing and history that characterized his later work.
Autorentext
Leslie Hill is Reader in French Studies at the University of Warwick, and the author of Beckett's Fiction: In Different Words and Marguerite Duras: Apocalyptic Desires.
Zusammenfassung
Blanchot provides a compelling insight into one of the key figures in the development of postmodern thought. Although Blanchot's work is characterised by a fragmentary and complex style, Leslie Hill introduces clearly and accessibly the key themes in his work. He shows how Blanchot questions the very existence of philosophy and literature and how we may distinguish between them, stresses the importance of his political writings and the relationship between writing and history that characterised Blanchot's later work; and considers the relationship between Blanchot and key figures such as Emmanuel Levinas and Georges Bataille and how this impacted on his work. Placing Blanchot at the centre stage of writing in the twentieth century, Blanchot also sheds new light on Blanchot's political activities before and after the Second World War. This accessible introduction to Blanchot's thought also includes one of the most comprehensive bibliographies of his writings of the last twenty years.
Inhalt
1 An intellectual itinerary 2 The (im)possibility of literature 3 Writing the neuter 4 The absence of the book 5 Extreme contemporary