Customer Reviews

Critical Writings, 1953-1978 (Theory and history of literature)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection of critical essays represents Paul de Man's less boldly 'deconstructionist' approaches to literature and philosophy-they bear the mark of a deep and thoughtful reader who is not afraid to run against the grain of academic fashions. De Man is particularly strong on extricating the ambiguous relationship of the literary and the philosophical. His reading of Sartre's mode of existentialism is indicative of his rigorous ability to parcel out the confusion arising from the term. For instance, in 'Heidegger Reconsidered,' de Man writes

"For nothing is more remote from Heidegger than this confusion between the pathos of direct experience and the knowing of this experience-a confusion that, ironically, has become associated with so-called existentialist thought, mainly because of Sartre's famous and unfortunate phrase about the precedence of existence over essences. One could rather describe 'Being and Time' as the most thoroughgoing attempt to cleanse our thought from that confusion not only in language, but in the philosophical project as a whole...Heidegger does not in any way plunge one into the undifferentiated and opaque mass of direct actions, feelings, or emotions; his entire enterprise strives in the opposite direction."

This is a rich and finely erudite collection with an impressive range of literary and philosophical topics. De Man writes on Mallarme, Borges, Keats, Gide, and many others. The scholarly introduction to his life and works by Lindsay Waters is also excellent.