Reading De Man Reading (Volume 59) (Theory and History of Literature)

Reading De Man Reading was first published in 1989. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Paul de Man, from the outset of his career, concerned himself with the act of reading and with discovering what a rigorous mode of reading can produce. The contributors to this volume—conceived not long before de Man's death in 1983—address his theory and practice of reading: the nature of those readings and what they signify for reading in general, not just for literary texts. De Man explored the act of reading because in it he could bring together—in order to cancel—the subjects known as reader and writer, the referent known as reality, and the medium known as language. In the act of reading de Man, the authors of this book ask where his work leaves us, what changes he made in the world of criticism and writing in general, and what we do differently because of him. The contributors: Geoffrey Hartman, Jacques Derrida, Deborah Esch, Neil Hertz, Carol Jacobs, Kevin Newmark, Peggy Kamuf, J. Hillis Miller, Werner Hamacher, Hans Robert Jauss, Geoffrey Bennington, Bill Readings, Timothy Bahti, and Rodolphe Gasché. Lindsay Waters is General Editor at Harvard University Press. Wlad Godzich is professor of comparative literature at the Université de Montréal and co-editor of the Theory and History of Literature series.

Reading De Man Reading was first published in 1989. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

Paul de Man, from the outset of his career, concerned himself with the act of reading and with discovering what a rigorous mode of reading can produce. The contributors to this volume-conceived not long before de Man's death in 1983-address his theory and practice of reading: the nature of those readings and what they signify for reading in general, not just for literary texts. De Man explored the act of reading because in it he could bring together-in order to cancel-the subjects known as reader and writer, the referent known as reality, and the medium known as language. In the act of reading de Man, the authors of this book ask where his work leaves us, what changes he made in the world of criticism and writing in general, and what we do differently because of him.

The contributors: Geoffrey Hartman, Jacques Derrida, Deborah Esch, Neil Hertz, Carol Jacobs, Kevin Newmark, Peggy Kamuf, J. Hillis Miller, Werner Hamacher, Hans Robert Jauss, Geoffrey Bennington, Bill Readings, Timothy Bahti, and Rodolphe Gasché.

Lindsay Waters is General Editor at Harvard University Press. Wlad Godzich is professor of comparative literature at the Université de Montréal and co-editor of the Theory and History of Literature series.

Contents 6 Abbreviations 7 Prefatory Note 9 Looking Back on Paul de Man 12 Psyche: Inventions of the Other 34 A Defence of Rhetoric / The Triumph of Reading 75 Lurid Figures 91 Allegories of Reading Paul de Man 114 Paul de Man's History 130 Pieces of Resistance 145 "Reading" Part of a Paragraph in Allegories of Reading 164 LECTIO: de Man's Imperative 180 Response to Paul de Man 211 Aberrations: de Man (and) the Machine 218 The Deconstruction of Politics 232 Lessons of Remembering and Forgetting 253 In-Difference to Philosophy: de Man on Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche 268 Notes on Contributors 306 Index 312 A 312 B 312 C 313 D 313 E 314 F 314 G 315 H 315 I 315 J 316 K 316 L 316 M 317 N 317 O 318 P 318 Q 319 R 319 S 320 T 320 U 321 V 321 W 321 Y 321 The fourteen contributors to this volume address de Man's theory and practice of reading, the nature of those readings and what they signify for reading in general, not just literary texts. Thirteen essays address de Man's theory and practice of reading, including the nature of those readings and what they signify forreading in general, not just for literary texts