The Writing of the DisasterModern history is haunted by the disasters of the century--world wars, concentration camps, Hiroshima, and the Holocaust--grief, anger, terror, and loss beyond words, but still close, still impending. How can we write or think about disaster when by its very nature it defies speech and compels silence, burns books and shatters meaning? The Writing of the Disaster reflects upon efforts to abide in disaster's infinite threat. First published in French in 1980, it takes up the most serious tasks of writing: to describe, explain, and redeem when possible, and to admit what is not possible. Neither offers consolation. Maurice Blanchot has been praised on both sides of the Atlantic for his fiction and criticism. The philosopher Emmanuel Levinas once remarked that Blanchot's writing is a "language of pure transcendence, without correlative." Literary theorist and critic Geoffrey Hartman remarked that Blanchot's influence on contemporary writers "cannot be overestimated." |
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absence according affirmation allow already answer appear bear becomes believe belong Blanchot body break called causes cease child comes continuity death demand desire dialectic difference disappear disaster doubt dying effacement effect escapes eternal etymology everything excess experience exposed expression extreme fall finally forgetfulness fragment fragmentary gift given gives happen idea impossible infinite intensity interruption keep kill knowledge lack language leave linked live longer loss madness mark meaning memory movement multiple natural negative neutral never night once oneself pass passivity past patience perhaps philosophical possibility precisely present proper question reading reason recognize refers refusal relation remains repetition requires respect responsibility rhythm secret seek seems sense sentence separate sheer silence simply space speak suffering term things thought translated truth turn understand unity wake watch Whence whole word writing
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Writing of the Disaster |
| Author | Maurice Blanchot |
| Translated by | Ann Smock |
| Publisher | U of Nebraska Press, 2015 |
| ISBN | 0803277474, 9780803277472 |
| Length | 151 pages |
| Subjects | › Literary Criticism / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |