Arresting Language: From Leibniz to Benjamin

by Peter Fenves

Overview

Speech act theory has taught us "how to do things with words." Arresting Language turns its attention in the opposite direction—toward the surprising things that language can undo and leave undone. In the eight essays of this volume, arresting language is seen as language at rest, words no longer in service to the project of establishing conventions or instituting legal regimes. Concentrating on both widely known and seldom-read texts from a variety of philosophers, writers, and critics—from Leibniz and Mendelssohn, through Kleist and Hebel, to Benjamin and Irigaray—the book analyzes the genesis and structure of interruption, a topic of growing interest to contemporary literary studies, continental philosophy, legal studies, and theological reflection.

Beginning with an exposition of Hölderlin's rigorous account of interruption in terms of the "pure word," in which the event of representation alone appears, Arresting Language identifies critical moments in philosophical and literary texts during which language itself—without any identifiable speaker—arrests otherwise continuous processes and procedures, including the process of representation and the procedures for its legitimization. The book then investigates a series of pure words: the fatal verdict (arrêt) of divine wisdom in Leibniz, the performance of Jewish ceremonial practices in Mendelssohn, the issuing of unauthorized arrest warrants in Kleist, fraudulent acts of storytelling in Hebel, the eruption of tragic silence and the "mass strike" in Benjamin, and the recurrence of angelic intervention in Irigaray.

At the center of this volume is a detailed explication of Benjamin's effort to transform Husserl's program for a phenomenological epoche into a paradoxically nonprogrammatic, paradisal epoche, by means of which the structure of paradise can be exactly outlined and the Messianic moment—as the ultimate event of arresting language—can at last appear to enter into its own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804739603
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Series:	Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Peter Fenves is Professor of German and Comparative Literary Studies and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Northwestern University. Among his books is "Chatter": Language and History in Kierkegaard (Stanford, 1993).

Table of Contents

	Note on Translations and Abbreviations	xi
	Introduction: "From an Awkward Perspective"	1
1	Antonomasia: The Fate of the Name in Leibniz	13
2	Language on a Holy Day: The Temporality of Communication in Mendelssohn	80
3	"The Scale of Enthusiasm": Kant, Schelling, and Holderlin	98
4	On a Seeming Right to Semblance: Schiller, Hebel, and Kleist	129
5	Anecdote and Authority: Toward Kleist's Last Language	152
6	The Paradisal Epoche: On Benjamin's First Philosophy	174
7	Tragedy and Prophecy in Benjamin's Origin of the German Mourning Play	227
8	"Subtracted from the Order of Number": Toward a Politics of Pure Means in Benjamin and Irigaray	249
	Notes	271
	Bibliography	345
	Sources	370
	Index	371

Editorial Reviews

"Eight unique essays . . . recommended for lage academic or specialized collections."—Library Journal

From the Publisher

Language is so complex that it can inhibit or even stop the process of communication, according to Fenves (German and comparative literary studies, Northwestern Univ.). He demonstrates this idea in eight unique essays examining the writings of a variety of philosophers and literary figures, chiefly from Germany. Regarding clear communication and the idea of divine revelation in language, Fenves dissects the complex views of Leibniz and Mendelssohn. In addition, through the writings of Johann Peter Hegel, Heinrich von Kleist, Walter Benjamin, and Luce Irigaray, he presents intriguing examples of plot and dialog, such as perceiving a rainbow's colors or issuing an illegal police warrant. Five of the eight essays are revisions of works previously published. While they address related questions, the essays do not directly build upon one another. As a result, readers may be intrigued but feel that the inquiry lacks focus. Because Fenves incorporates many German words and philosophical terms into a dense writing style, his work is most accessible to philosophy graduate students and scholars. Recommended only for large academic or specialized collections. Marianne Orme, Des Plaines P.L., IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal