Spectral Nationality : Passages of Freedom From Kant to Postcolonial Literatures of Liberation

This far-ranging and ambitious attempt to rethink postcolonial theory's discussion of the nation and nationalism brings the problems of the postcolonial condition to bear on the philosophy of freedom. Going against orthodoxy, Pheng Cheah retraces the universal-rationalist foundations and progressive origins of political organicism in the work of Kant and its development in philosophers in the German tradition such as Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. This far-ranging and ambitious attempt to rethink postcolonial theory's discussion of the nation and nationalism brings the problems of the postcolonial condition to bear on the philosophy of freedom. Closely identified with totalitarianism and fundamentalism, the nation-state has a tainted history of coercion, ethnic violence, and even, as in ultranationalist Nazi Germany, genocide. Most contemporary theorists are therefore skeptical, if not altogether dismissive, of the idea of the nation and the related metaphor of the political body as an organism. Going against orthodoxy, Pheng Cheah retraces the universal-rationalist foundations and progressive origins of political organicism in the work of Kant and its development in philosophers in the German tradition such as Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. Cheah argues that the widespread association of freedom with the self-generating dynamism of life and culture's power of transcendence is the most important legacy of this tradition. Addressing this legacy's manifestations in Fanon and Cabral's theories of anticolonial struggle and contemporary anticolonial literature, including the Buru Quartet by Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and the Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's nationalist novels, Cheah suggests that the profound difficulties of achieving freedom in the postcolonial world indicate the need to reconceptualize freedom in terms of the figure of the specter rather than the living organism. CONTENTS Acknowledgments List of Selected Works Cited and Abbreviations Introduction. The Death of the Nation? PART I. CULTURE AS FREEDOM: TERRITORIALIZATIONS AND DETERRITORIALIZATIONS 1. The Rationality of Life: On the Organismic Metaphor of the Social and Political Body Myths of the Organic Community The Transition from Mechanistic to Organismic Metaphors of the Social and Political Body Freedom, Culture, and Organism 2. Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and the Technic of Nature How Can Freedom Be Objectively Real? Antimechanism Before the Third Critique Taking Credit from Nature: Culture as Freedom in Kant’s Historical Writings Organized Products of Nature: Organismic Causality and Freedom in the Critique of Judgment The Political Body as Organism: Cosmopolitan Culture and the Reorganization/Organicization of the State-Machine The Technic of Nature: Effacing Nature’s Favor and the Absolute Recuperation of Techne The Technic of the Other: Sheer Exposure 3. Incarnations of the Ideal: Nation and State in Fichte and Hegel The Original People: Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation The Nation as a Community of Language and the Overcoming of Death The Kulturnation as Spiritual Organism The State as Instrument of the People: Why National Bildung Is Not an Official Ideology The Originary Infection of the Nation-People The Actualization of Reason: Hegel’s Organic State and the Ghost of National Culture Wirklichkeit and the Idea of the State Becoming Other While Staying at Home: the Animal Organism The Vital State and the Machine of Civil Society Bildung as the Paradigm of Spiritual Work and Freedom Volksgeist: The Apparitional Supplement of the Rational State 4. Revolutions That Take Place in the Head:Marx and the National Question in Socialist Decolonization The World Community of Productive Laborers: Marx’s Deterritorialization of Freedom Epigenesis of Labor: The Verwirklichung of Humanity and the Proletarian Revolution as Appropriation Ghostly Consciousness, Haunted Actuality Acts of Culture: The Return of the Nation-People in Socialist Decolonization PART II. SURVIVING (POSTCOLONIALITY) 5. Novel Nation: The Bildung of the Postcolonial Nation as Sociological Organism 6. The Haunting of the People: The Spectral Public Sphere in Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Buru Quartet The Buru Quartet’s Function: Reanimating a Critical Public Sphere in New Order Indonesia The Birth and Arrested Life of the Indonesian Nation Circa 1900 The Modernity of National Consciousness: The Spectral World of Modern Knowledge The Comparative Gaze and the Desire for National Bildung Freedom Through the Nation: The Critique of Colonialist Instrumental Reason as the Reenchantment of the World Conjuring the People, Giving Life to the National Body: Organization as Vital Movement and Power “Landasan [yang] lebih mengikat”: What Binds a Healthy Nation-People Together 7. Afterlives: The Mutual Haunting of the State and Nation The Negation of Life: The State as the Agent of Death The Negation of Death The Haunting of the Colonial State by Minke’s Afterlife Morbid Interrogations: The Constitutive Possibility of Death Within the Living National Body Publicness and the Spectral Gaze of State Surveillance Counterfeit Life 8. The Neocolonial State and Other Prostheses of the Postcolonial National Body: Ngu ̃g ̃i wa Thiong’o’s Project of Revolutionary National Culture National Culture as Self-Recursive Mediation The Onus of Narrative Fiction Monstrous Bodies and Nonfunctional Organs The Surviving of Surviving Epilogue. Spectral Nationality: The Living-On of the Postcolonial Nation in Globalization Index This Far-ranging And Ambitious Attempt To Rethink Postcolonial Theory's Discussion Of The Nation And Nationalism Brings The Problems Of The Postcolonial Condition To Bear On The Philosophy Of Freedom. Closely Identified With Totalitarianism And Fundamentalism, The Nation-state Has A Tainted History Of Coercion, Ethnic Violence, And Even, As In Ultranationalist Nazi Germany, Genocide. Most Contemporary Theorists Are Therefore Skeptical, If Not Altogether Dismissive, Of The Idea Of The Nation And The Related Metaphor Of The Political Body As An Organism. Going Against Orthodoxy, Pheng Cheah Retraces The Universal-rationalist Foundations And Progressive Origins Of Political Organicism In The Work Of Kant And Its Development In Philosophers In The German Tradition Such As Fichte, Hegel, And Marx. Cheah Argues That The Widespread Association Of Freedom With The Self-generating Dynamism Of Life And Culture's Power Of Transcendence Is The Most Important Legacy Of This Tradition. Addressing This Legacy's Manifestations In Fanon And Cabral's Theories Of Anticolonial Struggle And Contemporary Anticolonial Literature, Including The Buru Quartet By Indonesian Writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, And The Kenyan Writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's Nationalist Novels, Cheah Suggests That The Profound Difficulties Of Achieving Freedom In The Postcolonial World Indicate The Need To Reconceptualize Freedom In Terms Of The Figure Of The Specter Rather Than The Living Organism.--google Books. Introduction. The Death Of The Nation? -- Pt. I. Culture As Freedom: Territorializations And Deterritorializations -- 1. The Rationality Of Life: On The Organismic Metaphor Of The Social And Political Body -- 2. Kant's Cosmopolitanism And The Technic Of Nature -- 3. Incarnations Of The Ideal: Nation And State In Fichte And Hegel -- 4. Revolutions That Take Place In The Head: Marx And The National Question In Socialist Decolonization. Pheng Cheah. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "This far-ranging and ambitious attempt to rethink postcolonial theory's discussion of the nation and nationalism brings the problems of the postcolonial condition to bear on the philosophy of freedom. Closely identified with totalitarianism and fundamentalism, the nation-state has a tainted history of coercion, ethnic violence, and even, as in ultranationalist Nazi Germany, genocide. Most contemporary theorists are therefore skeptical, if not altogether dismissive, of the idea of the nation and the related metaphor of the political body as an organism. Going against orthodoxy, Pheng Cheah retraces the universal-rationalist foundations and progressive origins of political organicism in the work of Kant and its development in philosophers in the German tradition such as Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. Cheah argues that the widespread association of freedom with the self-generating dynamism of life and culture's power of transcendence is the most important legacy of this tradition. Addressing this legacy's manifestations in Fanon and Cabral's theories of anticolonial struggle and contemporary anticolonial literature, including the Buru Quartet by Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and the Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's nationalist novels, Cheah suggests that the profound difficulties of achieving freedom in the postcolonial world indicate the need to reconceptualize freedom in terms of the figure of the specter rather than the living organism."--Site de l'éditeur In "What Is a Nation?" (1882), Ernest Renan provides an exemplary definition: The nation, like an individual, is the culmination of a long past of endeavours, sacrifice, and devotion....