Fragments for a History of a Vanishing Humanism (Interventions: New Studies Medieval Cult)

Fragments for a History of a Vanishing Humanism brings together scholars working in prehistoric, classical, medieval, and early modern studies who are developing, from longer and slower historical perspectives, critical post/humanisms that explore: 1) the significance (historical, sociocultural, psychic, etc.) of human expression and affectivity; 2) the impact of technology and new sciences on what it means to be a human self; 3) the importance of art and literature in defining and enacting human selves; 4) the importance of history in defining the human; 5) the artistic plasticity of the human; 6) the question of a human collectivity—what is the value, and peril, of “being human” or “being post/human” together?; and finally, 7) the constructive, and destructive, relations (aesthetic, historical, and philosophical) of the human to the nonhuman. This volume, edited by Myra Seaman and Eileen A. Joy, insists on the always provisional and contingent formations of the human, and of various humanisms, over time, while also aiming to demonstrate the different ways these formations emerge (and also disappear) in different times and places, from the most ancient past to the most contemporary present. The essays are offered as “fragments” because the authors do not believe there can ever be a “total history” of either the human or the post/human as they play themselves out in differing historical contexts. At the same time, the volume as a whole argues that defining what “the human” (or “post/human”) is has always been an ongoing, never finished cultural project. COVER: Fragments for a History of a Vanishing Humanism 1 Half Title Page 2 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 8 INTRODUCTION: The Work, or the Agency, of the Nonhuman in Premodern Art: ANNA KŁOSOWSKA and EILEEN A. JOY 10 LACRIMAE RERUM: PREMODERN SOURCES FOR A THEORY OF NONHUMAN SENSIBILITY 10 POST/HUMANISM AND THE CRISIS OF THE HUMAN/ITIES 12 PART I: SINGULARITIES, SPECIES, INTER/FACES 26 PART II: HUMAN, INHUMAN, SPECTACLE 31 ALL THE WAY TO THE VEGAN DEMON 37 PART I: Singularities, Species, Inter/faces 40 CHAPTER 1: Paleolithic Representations of Human Being at Chauvet and Rouffignac: JEFFREY SKOBLOW 42 CHAPTER 2: Eros, Event, and Non-Faciality in Malory’s “The Tale of Balyn and Balan”: EILEEN A. JOY 60 CHAPTER 3: The Book of Hours and iPods, Passionate Lyrics, and Prayers: Technologies of the Devotional Self: TIM SPENCE 74 PRELUDE 74 VERSE I 77 VERSE II 84 CHORUS 87 VERSE III 95 CONCLUSION 100 CHAPTER 4: What Does Language Speak?: Feeling the Human with Samuel Beckett and Chrétien de Troyes: DANIEL C. REMEIN and ANNA KŁOSOWSKA 104 THEORETICAL GROUNDS: HEIDEGGER, METAPHYSICS, SPECULATIVE REALISM, AND DELEUZE AS “PURE METAPHYSICIAN” 111 THE ALLURE OF THE (LITERARY) MATTER: LUXURIA AND PURGATORY 115 NAMING AND THE LIMITS OF LANGUAGE 120 VOLTE- FACE: THE TURN FROM LANGUAGE TO FACE AND AN OPTIMISTIC RENAMING 122 PLEASURE TO READ 132 PART II: Human, Inhuman, Spectacle 136 CHAPTER 5: Aninormality 138 PERCEPTIBLE THINGS 138 CAILLOIS AMONG THE NONHUMANS 142 MEDIEVAL ANINORMALITY 149 CHAPTER 6: Humanist Waste 160 DISPOSAL 162 CONTIGUITY AND ESSENCE 166 COLLAPSE 168 HUMANIST TROUBADOURS? 171 BEAK AND SPIGOT: THE TROUBADOUR INHUMAN 174 AVANT-GARDE MEDIEVAL 182 CHAPTER 7: How Delicious We Must Be / Folcuin’s Horse and the Dog’s Gowther, Beyond Care: KARL STEEL 184 CHAPTER 8: Excusing Laius: Freud’s Oedipus, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and Lydgate’s Edippus: DANIEL T. KLINE 202 FREUD’S COMPOSITE OEDIPUS 207 EDIPPUS IN LYDGATE’S SIEGE OF THEBES 211 EDIPPUS ANSWERS THE SPHINX 217 EDIPPUS: UNKYNDE AND UNWIST 223 FREEING OEDIPUS/EDIPPUS 228 CODA: The Trick of Singularity Twelfth Night, Stewards of the Posthuman, and the Problem of Aesthetics: CRAIG DIONNE 232 DEFINING A HUMANIST POSTHUMAN? 232 ALONE HIGH FANTASTICAL? 236 THINKING AESTHETICS AND DIFFERENCE 242 FESTE’S SONG: FIGURING CHEVERAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE NEW MATERIAL TURN 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 CONTRIBUTORS 276 INDEX 280 Paleolithic Representations Of Human Being At Chauvet And Rouffignac / Jeffrey Skoblow -- Eros, Event, And Non-faciality In Malory's The Tale Of Balyn And Balan / Eileen A. Joy -- The Book Of Hours And Ipods, Passionate Lyrics, And Prayers: Technologies Of The Devotional Self / Tim Spence -- What Does Language Speak? Feeling The Human With Samuel Beckett And Chretien De Troyes / Daniel C. Remein And Anna Kłosowska -- Aninormality / Jeffrey Jerome Cohen -- Humanist Waste / Michael A. Johnson -- How Delicious We Must Be/folcuin's Horse And The Dog's Gowther, Beyond Care / Karl Steel -- Excusing Laius: Freud's Oedipus, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, And Lydgate's Edippus / Daniel T. Kline -- The Trick Of Singularity: Twelfth Night, Stewards Of The Posthuman, And The Problem Of Aesthetics / Craig Dionne. Edited By Myra Seaman And Eileen A. Joy. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 245-265) And Index.