This introductory guide to Louis Althusser provides the first major overview of his work since the publication in French of thousands of pages of essays, books, and letters unknown before 1990. Focusing on Althusser's writing on art, theater, and literature, Warren Montag traces the contradictory development of Althusser's thought from the early 60s to his autobiography, The Future Lasts Forever. Montag also explores how Althusser's reflections on reading can shed new light on well-known texts such as Heart of Darkness and Robinson Crusoe.
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Editorial Reviews
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"a brief yet comprehensive overview of the life and work of Althusser."--M.A. Martinez-Saenz, Choice
"Warren Montag is in my view the most insightful and knowledgeable reader of Althusser and his circle... Montag frees Althusser's work from the old and sterile polemics about Althusserianism and shows us why it is still vital and important today." -- Michael Hardt, Duke University
"Warren Montag is in my view the most insightful and knowledgeable reader of Althusser and his circle... Montag frees Althusser's work from the old and sterile polemics about Althusserianism and shows us why it is still vital and important today." -- Michael Hardt, Duke University
About the Author
Warren Montag is Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Occidental College, Los Angeles.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book on Althusser in English,
This review is from: Louis Althusser (Transitions (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm)).) (Paperback)
This is undoubtedly the best book on Althusser in English to date. Others, such as Gregory Elliott's book, might be more comprehensive (but be sure to get the recent edition of Elliott's book, which corrects some errors of interpretation made in the first edition regarding Althusser's 1970s position) but this book by Montag (and, in fact, all of Montag's books) really gets at the crux of what Althusser's theories of reading and ideology are about. Especially useful to those working in literary analysis - there is also considerable discussion of Macherey in here, and there are Althusserian readings of Conrad, Defoe, and Althusser's own 'autobiography' in here.
You used to be able to download a sample of the main chapter from Palgrave Macmillan's website, so have a look for that, but there is more here than just that chapter. I would also strongly recommend Montag's books on Swift (The Unthinkable Swift), Spinoza (Bodies, Masses, Power), and the various edited volumes he has been involved with, especially the collection of Macherey's writings (In a Materialist Way). Literary studies students might also find the essay on Frankenstein in the edition edited by Johanna Smith very useful, and students of Foucault will be interested in a paper by Montag in Yale French Studies no. 88.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"A childhood memory: those stories of explorers who come upon an immense river without knowing where it lead. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
humanist ideology, theatrical practice, wild crowds Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Heart of Darkness, Robinson Crusoe, The Future Lasts Forever, Louis Althusser, Pierre Macherey, The Nigger of the Narcissus, Adam Smith, Beckett's Molloy, French Communist Party, May Day, New York New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"A childhood memory: those stories of explorers who come upon an immense river without knowing where it lead. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
humanist ideology, theatrical practice, wild crowds Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Heart of Darkness, Robinson Crusoe, The Future Lasts Forever, Louis Althusser, Pierre Macherey, The Nigger of the Narcissus, Adam Smith, Beckett's Molloy, French Communist Party, May Day, New York New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 60
books:
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15
books
cite this book:
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- For Marx (Radical Thinkers) by Louis Althusser on 14 pages
- Reading Capital (The Verso Classics Series) by Louis Althusser on 13 pages
- Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad on 13 pages
- Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad on 13 pages
- Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays by Louis Althusser on 7 pages
See all 60 books this book cites
- Race And Racism in Modern Philosophy by Andrew Valls on page 69
- Male Subjectivity at the Margins by Kaja Silverman in Back Matter
- Art as Abstract Machine: Ontology and Aesthetics in Deleuze and Guattari (Studies in Philosophy) by Stephen Zepke in Back Matter
- Ideology (Transitions) by James M. Decker in Front Matter
- Critical Keywords in Literary and Cultural Theory by Julian Wolfreys in Front Matter
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