Herman Melville's Bartleby, asked to account for himself, "would prefer not to." Tongue-tied Billy Budd, urged to defend his innocence, responds with a murderous blow. The Bavard , by Louis-Ren??? des For???ts, concerns a man whose power to speak is replaced by an inability to shut up. In these and other literary examples a call for speech throws the possibility of speaking into doubt. What Is There to Say? uses the ideas of Maurice Blanchot to clarify puzzling works by Melville, des For???ts, and Beckett. Ann Smock's ...
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Herman Melville's Bartleby, asked to account for himself, "would prefer not to." Tongue-tied Billy Budd, urged to defend his innocence, responds with a murderous blow. The Bavard , by Louis-Ren??? des For???ts, concerns a man whose power to speak is replaced by an inability to shut up. In these and other literary examples a call for speech throws the possibility of speaking into doubt. What Is There to Say? uses the ideas of Maurice Blanchot to clarify puzzling works by Melville, des For???ts, and Beckett. Ann Smock's energetic readings of texts about talking, listening, and recording cast an equally welcome light on Blanchot's paradoxical thought.
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Seller's Description:
Like New. Size: 6x1x8; Hardcover and dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Minor shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. 192 p., 21 cm. "Smock writes wisely and wittily, without pedantry and with disarming clarity and simplicity. Her book is a critical gem and a boon to all who are interested in recent French philosophical and aesthetic thought and the extraordinary body of writing it has given rise to."-Ross Chambers.
