Michel Leiris : writing the self / Seán Hand.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hand, Seán, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in French ; 70.

Cambridge studies in French ; 70

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Leiris, Michel, 1901-1990--Criticism and interpretation.

Leiris, Michel.

Self in literature.

Identity (Psychology) in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 259 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Summary:

This is the first full-length study in English of Michel Leiris's work. Frequently cited as a central figure in contemporary French culture, Leiris was an outstanding writer whose double career as ethnographer and creative writer places him at important points of intersection within French cultural history. Seán Hand explores Leiris's active participation in some of the most striking intellectual and artistic movements of the twentieth century: surrealism in the twenties, ethnography in the thirties and existentialism in the forties. Hand locates his writing in these different contexts in relation to the major artistic, political and philosophical concepts of the period. He goes on to argue that Leiris's multi-volume autobiography La Règle du jeu stands as the model form of self-enquiry in the twentieth century. More broadly, Hand explores Leiris's continuing obsession with the notion of 'presence'. Informed by recent critical theories, Hand offers a multi disciplinary approach to this intriguing writer.

Contents:

Introduction: the deaths of Michel Leiris

Texts and Contexts

Unities and identities: Leiris and surrealism

Recasting the self: from surrealism to ethnography

Autobiographical frameworks: from ethnography to L'Age d'homme

Positional play: La Regle du jeu

Secreting the self: Journal 1922-1989

The Quest for Presence in La Regle Du Jeu

Excess of joy: the beginnings of presence in ' ... Reusement!'

Organs of learning: sensing presence in Biffures

The act of union: being-in-the-world in La Regle du jeu

Thanatography: non-being as the limit of autobiography.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-254) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-11266-4

1-280-15191-9

0-511-11623-3

0-511-03959-X

0-511-15811-4

0-511-32995-4

0-511-48579-4

0-511-05316-9

OCLC:

559561122