Anti-Mimesis from Plato to Hitchcock (Literature, Culture, Theory) [Paperback]

Tom Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1994 | Series: Literature, Culture, Theory (Book 10)

The material elements of writing have long been undervalued; but analysis of these elements--sound, signature, letters--can transform our understanding of major texts. Tom Cohen argues in this book that in an era of representational criticism the role of close reading has been overlooked. Through astonishing new readings of writers such as Plato, Bakhtin, Poe, Whitman, and Conrad, Professor Cohen exposes the limitations of new historicism and neo-pragmatism, and demonstrates how the "materiality of language" challenges representational models of meaning imposed by the canon.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the quixotic and often breathtaking combination of erudition and creativity that characterized de Man's work appears throughout Anti-Mimesis, lending Cohen's work a kind of paradigmatic authority." MLN

"...an excellent book, well worth reading and rereading--in posthumanist or other ways." Cesare Casarino, American Literature

Book Description

This text exposes the limitations of new historicism and neo-pragmatism through readings of Plato, Bakhtin, Poe, Whitman, and Conrad, which challenge the imposed representational models of meaning. It argues that the role of close reading has been overlooked in an era of representational criticism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 30, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521465842
• ISBN-13: 978-0521465847
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,555,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tricky reading but pays off, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Anti-Mimesis from Plato to Hitchcock (Literature, Culture, Theory) (Hardcover)

Cohen's work here is especially demanding - a very tricky style of writing, I think - but if you can get past that, the essays collected in this work pay you back. While far too many critical theories sabotage their own projects from the very beginning, leaping into ill-thought generalizations of identity or politics, Cohen is aiming for something much much larger than that. Recommended for textualists, deconstructors, and anyone unsatisfied with the disguised vacuity of today's critical scene. 5 stars for me!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bridge from Theory to Application, June 18, 2008

By 

D. Fineman "[e-mail]" (L. A., CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anti-Mimesis from Plato to Hitchcock (Literature, Culture, Theory) (Paperback)

This work is largely a collection of essays recast and less a unified and homogenized book. The vestiges of this compositional mode are somewhat obvious and expected: fairly large interstices between targets and times and yet significant redundancy of some materials, references, and concepts. Still, the book's central concerns, style, and thematics are consistent, interesting, and very intelligently developed. Further, Cohen's capacity to move between literary texts and the broad expanses of philosophy with equal invention and creativity is as rare as it is welcome. Oddly, I find the title a little misleading since "anti-mimesis" seems to be dialectical in a way at odds with a project that eschews binaries and symmetry and whose closer model might be the the "dialogic" of Voloshinov. As his later work perhaps reflects, I think this is moving more toward Lucretius, Spinoza and Deleuze than is evident here. Still, to be an important intervention in both materialism and American Literature is quite remarkable.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unforgettable, February 19, 2005

By 

J.C. (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anti-Mimesis from Plato to Hitchcock (Literature, Culture, Theory) (Paperback)

Tom Cohen is a professor at my University where I have had the pleasure of learning from him directly. He studied directly from Derrida while at Yale and for other reviewers to critique his style, form, etc. - one must realize that this man is extraordinary and to learn from an apprentice of Derrida is not only an honor but an unforgettable experience.
For those who cannot have that honor of learning from him directly I highly suggest reading his books.