Provocations to Reading : J. Hillis Miller and the Democracy to Come

This book is a marker of the Gstate of theoryG today. Its rich array of wideranging essays explores the dimensions and implications of the work of J. Hillis Miller, one of the most eminent literary scholars in America. For nearly half a century, Miller has been known for his close and imaginative engagement with the implications of European philosophical thought and for his passionate advocacy of close reading. Building on this intellectual legacy, the contributors instantiate and extend the practice and ethics of sustained close reading that is MillerGs hallmark. The book culminates in a moving piece by Jacques Derrida, MillerGs close friend of forty years, who engages MillerGs readings of Gerard Manley Hopkins in a historic encounter between French philosophy and American reading practices. A provocation to reading for new generations of students and teachers, these essays offer important resources for grasping the question of language in historical perspective and in contemporary lifeGa task essential for any democratic future. Barbara Cohen is Director of HumaniTech at the University of California, Irvine. She is co-editor of Material Events: Paul de Man and the Afterlife of Theory. Dragan Kujunzic is Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature and Director of Russian Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Among his publications is The Returns of History: Russian Nietzscheans after Modernity. Preface / Barbara Cohen -- Introduction / Dragan Kujundzic -- 1. J Is For Jouissance / Juliet Flower Maccannell -- 2. Broadening The Horizon : On J. Hillis Miller's Ananarratology / Dan Shen -- 3. Finding The Zumbah : An Analysis Of Infelicity In Speech Acts In Literature / Glenn Odom -- 4. Between The Cup And The Lip : Retroactive Constructions Of Inheritance In Our Mutual Friend / Larisa Tokmakoff Castillo -- 5. Hillis's Charity / Jennifer H. Williams -- 6. J; Or, Hillis Le Mal / Tom Cohen -- 7. The Afterlife Of Judaism : The Zohar, Benjamin, Miller / Henry Sussman -- 8. On The Line / Alexander Gelley -- 9. War On Terror / Marc Redfield -- 10. American Literary Studies And American Cultural Studies In The Times Of The National Emergency : J's Paradoxes / Donald Pease -- 11. J Is For Just A Minute : It's Miller Time When It Shimmers / Peggy Kamuf -- 12. Three Literary Theorists In Search Of O / J. Hillis Miller -- 13. Justices / Jacques Derrida. Edited By Barbara Cohen And Dragan Kujundžić. The Essays In This Collection Grow Out Of A Conference Titled 'j': Around The Work Of J. Hillis Miller, Held At The University Of California, Irvine, On April 18 And 19 Of 2003--pref. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 263-309) And Index. Annotation This book is a marker of the "state of theory" today. Its rich array of wideranging essays explores the dimensions and implications of the work of J. Hillis Miller, one of the most eminent literary scholars in America. For nearly half a century, Miller has been known for his close and imaginative engagement with the implications of European philosophical thought and for his passionate advocacy of close reading. Building on this intellectual legacy, the contributors instantiate and extendthe practice and ethics of sustained close reading that is Miller's hallmark. The book culminates in a moving piece by Jacques Derrida, Miller's close friend of forty years, who engages Miller's readings of Gerard Manley Hopkins in a historic encounter between French philosophy and American reading practices. A provocation to reading for new generations of students and teachers, these essays offer important resources for grasping the question of language in historical perspective and in contemporary life - a task essential for any democratic future