The Literary Absolute: The Theory of Literature in German Romanticism

by Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, Philip Barnard (Translator), Cheryl Lester (Translator)

Overview

The Literary Absolute is the first authoritative study of the emergence of the modern concept of literature in German romanticism. The authors trace this concept from the philosophical crisis bequeathed by Kant to his successors, to its development by the central figures of the Athenaeum group: the Schlegel brothers, Schelling, and Novalis.

This study situates the Jena romantics' "fragmentary" model of literature—a model of literature as the production of its own theory—in relation to the development of a post-Kantian conception of philosophy as the total and reflective auto-production of the thinking subject. Analyzing key texts of the period, the authors articulate the characteristics of romantic thought and at the same time show historical and systematic connections with modern literary theory. Thus, The Literary Absolute renews contemporary scholarship, showing the romantic origins of some of the leading issues in current critical theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438409856
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	02/28/1988
Series:	SUNY series, Intersections: Philosophy and Critical Theory
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	194
File size:	579 KB

About the Author

Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy are philosophers who teach at the Université de Strasbourg. Cheryl Lester is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Kansas. Philip Barnard is Assistant Professor of Literature at American University.

Table of Contents

Translators' Introduction: The Presentation of Romantic Literature

Note on the Text

Preface: The Literary Absolute

Chronology

Summary of the Athenaeum

Overture: The System-Subject

1. The Fragment: The Fragmentary Exigency

2. The Idea: Religion within the Limits of Art

Appendix: Note on Heinz Widerporst's Epicurean Confession of Faith

3. The Poem: A Nameless Art

4. Criticism: The Formation of Character

Closure: Romantic Equivocity

Notes

Bibliography

Appendix: Topical Index to the Fragments

Index

Editorial Reviews

"The authors have effectively situated romanticism within its philosophical context in a brilliant way." — Mark C. Taylor, Williams College

"It is the most useful historical and theoretical study of its topic that has been published during the last twenty odd years. Everyone concerned with literary criticism and philosophy should have it to read more than once." — Werner Hamacher, The Johns Hopkins University

From the Publisher