Theory and the disappearing future : on De Man, on Benjamin / Tom Cohen, Claire Colebrook and J. Hillis Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Tom, 1953-

Contributor:

Colebrook, Claire.

Miller, J. Hillis (Joseph Hillis), 1928-2021.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

De Man, Paul--Criticism and interpretation.

De Man, Paul.

Criticism.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

176 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2012.

Summary:

Paul de Man is often associated with an era of high theory, an era it is argued may now be coming to a close. This book, written by three leading contemporary scholars, includes both a transcript and facsimile print of a previously unpublished text by de Man of his handwritten notes for a lecture on Walter Benjamin. Challenging and relevant, this volume presents de Man 's work as a critical resource for dealing with the most important questions of the twenty-first century and argues for the place of theory within it. The humanities are flooded with crises of globalism, capitalism and terrorism, contemporary narratives of financial collapse, viral annihilation, species extinction, environmental disaster and terrorist destruction. Cohen, Colebrook and Miller draw out the implications of these crises and their narratives and, reflecting on this work by de Man, explore the limits of political thinking, of historical retrieval and the ethics of archives and cultural memory.

Contents:

Paul de Man at work: In these bad days, what good is an archive? / J. Hillis Miller

Toxic assets: De man's remains and the ecocatastrophic imaginary: (an American fable) / Tom Cohen

The calculus of individual worth / Claire Colebrook.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415604529

0415604524

9780415604536

0415604532

9780203806722

0203806727

OCLC:

651914474