Holderlin's hymn "The Ister" (Studies in Continental Thought) [Hardcover]

Martin Heidegger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 1996

Martin Heidegger's 1942 lecture course interprets Friedrich Hölderlin's hymn "The Ister" within the context of Hölderlin's poetic and philosophical work, with particular emphasis on Hölderlin's dialogue with Greek tragedy. Delivered in summer 1942 at the University of Freiburg, this course was first published in German in 1984 as volume 53 of Heidegger's Collected Works. Revealing for Heidegger's thought of the period are his discussions of the meaning of "the political" and "the national," in which he emphasizes the difficulty and the necessity of finding "one's own" in and through a dialogue with "the foreign." In this context Heidegger reflects on the nature of translation and interpretation. A detailed reading of the famous chorus from Sophocles' Antigone, known as the "ode to man," is a key feature of the course.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Heidegger's reading of 'The Ister' is thoughtful and rich. It provides his readers with the tools to build on his interpretation and to correct any missteps without doing violence to the whole." —Review of Metaphysics

(Review of Metaphysics )

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (September 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253330645
• ISBN-13: 978-0253330642
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Typically Great Lecture Course by Heidegger, February 16, 2006

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John Russon (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Holderlin's hymn "The Ister" (Studies in Continental Thought) (Hardcover)

This lecture course from 1942 has as its subject Holderlin's poem "The Ister." The Ister is the river known in English as the Danube, a river that marked the edge of the Roman Empire, and that roughly divides Eastern and Western Europe. Heidegger's reading of Holderlin leads us to reflect on the nature of nature: there is a spontaneous emergence of reality that provides the insurpassable context for all our life, all our experience, all meaning. Reflecting on the river is reflecting on this _phusis_ in its specificity and singularity, and becomes a way for us to reflect on the most profound dimensions of our existence--our mortality, our creativity, our ability to care--in their most creatively transformative and in their must destructive forms. The reflection on Holderlin and on the river leads especially into reflection on technology (especially as embodied in Americanism) and its dangers, and on art and its powers. Though the lecture course is officially about Holderlin's poem, much of the course is devoted to careful study of Sophocles _Antigone_, which Heidegger sees as closely related to _der Ister_ in what is makes manifest about nature and humanity. The reflections on _Antigone_ especially lead into reflections on the _polis_. These political reflections of course resonate with the prominent political events of the day--Nazi Europe facing the American West and the USSR to the East. This is a provocative, brilliant, and difficult text, well worth study by those interested in continental philosophy, Greek literature, technology, and many other topics. The film "The Ister," that was made to accompany this text is also excellent, and works wonderfully as a complement to Heidegger and to the texts of Holderlin and Sophocles. I recommend this highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heidegger's "Later" Thinking, August 9, 2007

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Tony See "New Thinker" (Singapore, Switzerland, Shanghai) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Holderlin's hymn "The Ister" (Studies in Continental Thought) (Hardcover)

This is one of the most important of Heidegger's "later" texts that deals with the question of how we may recover what is most proper to a people by encountering the other. The poetic discussion of the Greek Ister and the journeys that it take serves as an image for an encounter which will unveil the proper of the people.

The text will be of great importance for those who are engaged in the study of Heidegger, Levinas and Holderlin's thinking.

5.0 out of 5 stars Aesthetics and Politics, November 27, 2011

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Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holderlin's hymn "The Ister" (Studies in Continental Thought) (Hardcover)

In the midst of WWII, Heidegger delivered what is probably his greatest text on aesthetics and politics, all spinning off a poem about the Danube River by the romantic poet Friedrich Hölderlin.

There are three main parts...

I: Poetizing the Essence of the Rivers The Ister Hymn

II: The Greek Interpretation of Human Beings in Sophocles' Antigone

III: Holderlin's Poetizing of the Essence of the Poet as Demigod

Book details: hardcover, cloth over boards with a sewn binding, 185 pp. In dustjacket. Translators' Foreword, Editor's Epilogue, Translator's Notes. With English-German and a German-English glossaries.