17.2.13
Theory and the Disappearing Future On de Man, On Benjamin By Tom Cohen, Claire Colebrook, J. Hillis Miller, with a manuscript by Paul de Man - Routledge, Uk, November 2011
Paul de Man is often associated with an era of ‘high theory’, an era it is argued may now be coming to a close. This book, written by three leading contemporary scholars, includes both a transcript and facsimile print of a previously unpublished text by de Man of his handwritten notes for a lecture on Walter Benjamin. Challenging and relevant, this volume presents de Man’s work as a critical resource for dealing with the most important questions of the twenty-first century and argues for the place of theory within it.
The humanities are flooded with crises of globalism, capitalism and terrorism, contemporary narratives of financial collapse, viral annihilation, species extinction, environmental disaster and terrorist destruction. Cohen, Colebrook and Miller draw out the implications of these crises and their narratives and, reflecting on this work by de Man, explore the limits of political thinking, of historical retrieval and the ethics of archives and cultural memory.
Contents:
Part 1: de Man on Benjamin Introduction, Claire Colebrook Transcript Notes on the Task of the Translator, Paul de Man Part 2: Theory and the Disappearing Future 1. Paul de Man at Work: In These Bad Days, What Good is an Archive?, J. Hillis Miller 2.Toxic Assets: De Man’s Remains and the Ecocatastrophic Imaginary (an American Fable), Tom Cohen 3. The Calculus of Individual Worth, Claire Colebrook
'Asurprising and provocative intervention in thinking about deconstruction and environmental crisis, an exciting shift in direction.' - Timothy Clark, Durham University, UK
'This gem of a book should be read by anyone who wants to avoid repeating the past. Like a faintly heard, uncanny background noise that starts to ooze menacingly around the facile conversations in the foreground, de Man emerges as a figure with a crucial message regarding the current world historical, ecological emergency. De Man rises again, not the person as such, but the persona: a deconstructor distinct from Derrida, attuned to the radical contingency and secrecy of language, the impossibility of easy ways out. De Man is put into conversation with Deleuze and Guattari, Agamben, even de Landa and Lovelock. De Man returns from the dead, not as a rejuvenated person but as a haunting warning against compulsive affirmations of 'life.' Oh, and there's a very beautiful set of his notes on Benjamin, in facsimile and transcription.' - Timothy Morton, University of California, Davis, USA
10.2.13
Gilles Deleuze's Difference and Repetition A Critical Introduction and Guide by James Williams - Edinburgh University Press, Uk, January 2013
A revised, expanded and fully up-to-date critical introduction to Deleuze’s most important work of philosophy
By critically analysing Deleuze's methods, principles and arguments, James Williams helps readers to engage with the revolutionary core of Deleuze's philosophy and take up positions for or against its most innovative and controversial ideas.
New for this edition
- A new chapter on questions of method around important concepts such as intensity, anarchic distribution, transcendental illusion and distinctness
- Reflections on the place of judgement and action in Deleuze’s work in order to explain its ethical and political dimensions
- A new critical section, which guides students through the key debates and oppositions by engaging with latest interpretations of Deleuze by Levi Bryant, Anna Sauvagnargues, Daniel W. Smith, Henry Somers-Hall and Miguel de Beistegui
1.2.13
Surveillance Painting - Kon Trubkovich
 |
| Kon Trubkovich, Untitled, 2010, Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 50 inches |
From the Prosthethic Knowledge archive.