Silence in Modern Literature and Philosophy
Beckett, Barthes, Nancy, Stevens
Authors: Gould, Thomas
Free Preview- Situates silence in the context of both theological legacies and contemporary philosophical debates
- Offers a new, original take on four key literary/philosophical writers of the twentieth century
- Formulates a poetics of silence
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- About this book
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This book discusses the elusive centrality of silence in modern literature and philosophy, focusing on the writing and theory of Jean-Luc Nancy and Roland Barthes, the prose of Samuel Beckett, and the poetry of Wallace Stevens. It suggests that silence is best understood according to two categories: apophasis and reticence. Apophasis is associated with theology, and relates to a silence of ineffability and transcendence; reticence is associated with phenomenology, and relates to a silence of listenership and speechlessness. In a series of diverse though interrelated readings, the study examines figures of broken silence and silent voice in the prose of Samuel Beckett, the notion of shared silence in Jean-Luc Nancy and Roland Barthes, and ways in which the poetry of Wallace Stevens mounts lyrical negotiations with forms of unsayability and speechlessness.
- About the authors
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Thomas Gould holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Critical Thought from King’s College, London, UK.
- Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 1-15
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Apophasis and Reticence
Pages 17-56
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Broken Silence: Samuel Beckett
Pages 57-91
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Shared Silence: Jean-Luc Nancy with Roland Barthes
Pages 93-137
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Some Senses of Silence in Wallace Stevens
Pages 139-191
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
-
- Book Title
- Silence in Modern Literature and Philosophy
- Book Subtitle
- Beckett, Barthes, Nancy, Stevens
- Authors
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- Thomas Gould
- Copyright
- 2018
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-93479-2
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-93479-2
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-93478-5
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-06670-3
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- IX, 199
- Topics