The Premodern Condition

Medievalism and the Making of Theory

By: Bruce Holsinger

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Paperback | 6 December 2005 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
272 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5

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The Premodern Condition identifies and explains a surprising affinity for medievalism and medieval studies among the leading figures of critical theory. Drawing on a wide range of philosophical, literary-critical, and sociological works produced within the French nouvelle critique of the 1960s, Holsinger argues for reconceiving these discourses, in part, as a brilliant amalgamation of medievalisms.

Holsinger shows that the preoccupation with medieval cultures and practices among Bataille, Derrida, Lacan, Barthes, Bourdieu, and their cohorts was so wide ranging that it merits recognition as one of the most significant epiphenomena of postwar French thought. Not simply an object of nostalgic longing or an occasional source of literary exempla, the medieval epoch was continually mined by these thinkers for specific philosophical vocabularies, social formations, and systems of thought.

To supplement its master thesis, The Premodern Condition also contains original essays by Bataille and Bourdieu-translated here for the first time into English-that testify in various ways to the strange persistence of medievalisms in French postwar avant-garde writings. What results is an important and original work that will be a touchstone for specialists in medieval studies and critical theory alike.

Industry Reviews

"The Premodern Condition is an important and original contribution to emerging debates about the history and significance of critical theory. Holsinger demonstrates that twentieth-century theoretical discourses, as they become separated from nineteenth-century humanistic and social-scientific disciplines, engage in a series of brilliant defamiliarizing moves fundamentally grounded in medievalism." - Amy Hollywood, University of Chicago"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature Literary Theory Philosophy History of Western Philosophy Western Philosophy Language & Linguistics Reference, Dictionaries & Guides General Literary Studies Classical Literary Studies

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Avant-Garde Premodern
Para-Thomism: Bataille at Rheims
Apocalypse and Archaeophilia: Lacan's Middle Ages and the Ethics of History
Indigeneity: Panofsky, Bourdieu, and the Archaeology of the Habitus
Gothic Invention: Liturgy, History, Of Grammatology
The Four Senses of Roland Barthes
Epilogue
Medieval French Literature, Chivalric Morals, and Passion Georges Bataille
Postface to Erwin Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism Pierre Bourdieu
Works Cited
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

The Premodern Condition

Medievalism and the Making of Theory

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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