New Literature and Philosophy of the Middle East: The Chaotic Imagination (Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World)

In an inspired piece of criticism, Mohaghegh tracks the idea of chaos into the contemporary philosophical and cultural imagination of the so-called 'Third Worlds', exploring its vital role in the formation of an emergent avant-garde literature. Concentrating on writings of the twentieth-century Middle Eastern new wave--including the chaotic configurations of Sadeq Hedayat, Nima Yushij, Ahmad Shamlu, and Adonis--Mohaghegh uncovers provocative experiments with the outer boundaries of thought and text. What surfaces, in the end, is a rising language of blindness, desertion, annihilation, and illusion, one that has cast an enigmatic shadow across the future of world literature. In An Inspired Piece Of Criticism, Mohaghegh Tracks The Idea Of Chaos Into The Contemporary Philosophical And Cultural Imagination Of The Post-colonial World, Exploring Its Vital Role In The Formation Of An Emergent Avant-garde Literature In The Middle East. Concentrating In Main On The Writings Of The Twentieth-century Iranian New Wave, Mohaghegh Finds In The Works Of Sadeq Hedayat And Ahmad Shamlu Provocative Experiments With The Limits Of Avant-gardism That Have Cast An Enigmatic Shadow Across The Future Of World Literature.-- Here One Tracks The Chaotic Imagination, And The Emergent Literatures That Follow In Its Wake, Searching After A Certain Breaking-point Of Thought From Which There Is No Return. As Such, This Work Explores Some Of The Most Elusive Movements Of The Middle Eastern New Wave, Following Their Experiments With The Limits Of The Writing-act And The Original Concepts They Generate (annihilation, Desertion, Contagion, Shadow-becoming, The Inhuman). What Surfaces, In The End, Is A Rising Language Of Blindness And Burial, One That, Though Often Secretive, Convoluted, And Even Encrypted, Might Hold The Passcodes For A Still-unfolding Future-- Machine Generated Contents Note: Images Of Chaos: An Introduction * Tactic I: Desertion (chaotic Movement) * First Annihilation: Fall Of Being, Burial Of The Real * Tactic Ii: Contagion (chaotic Transmission) * Second Annihilation: Betrayal, Fracture, And The Poetic Edge * Tactic Iii: Shadow-becoming (chaotic Appearance) * Chaos-consciousness: Towards Blindness * Tactic Iv: The Inhuman (chaotic Incantation) * Epilogue: Corollaries Of Emergence. Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Note from the Editor......Page 10 Preface (Of the Zero-World)......Page 12 1 Images of Chaos: An Introduction......Page 16 Tactic 1: Desertion (Chaotic Movement)......Page 42 2 First Annihilation: Fall of Being, Burial of the Real......Page 52 Tactic 2: Contagion (Chaotic Transmission)......Page 92 3 Second Annihilation: Betrayal, Fracture, and the Poetic Edge......Page 106 Tactic 3: Shadow-Becoming (Chaotic Appearance)......Page 146 4 Chaos-Consciousness: Toward Blindness......Page 158 Tactic 4: The Inhuman (Chaotic Incantation)......Page 196 Epilogue: Corollaries of Emergence......Page 208 Notes......Page 222 Index......Page 244 "Here one tracks the chaotic imagination, and the emergent literatures that follow in its wake, searching after a certain breaking-point of thought from which there is no return. As such, this work explores some of the most elusive movements of the Middle Eastern new wave, following their experiments with the limits of the writing-act and the original concepts they generate (annihilation, desertion, contagion, shadow-becoming, the inhuman). What surfaces, in the end, is a rising language of blindness and burial, one that, though often secretive, convoluted, and even encrypted, might hold the passcodes for a still-unfolding future"-- Provided by publisher In an inspired piece of criticism, Mohaghegh tracks the idea of chaos into the contemporary philosophical and cultural imagination of the so-called 'Third Worlds', exploring its vital role in the formation of an emergent avant-garde literature. Concentrating on writings of the twentieth-century Middle Eastern new wave, including the chaotic configurations of Sadeq Hedayat and Ahmad Shamlu, Mohaghegh uncovers provocative experiments with the outer boundaries of thought and text. What surfaces, in the end, is a rising language of blindness and burial, one that has cast an enigmatic shadow across the future of world literature