Commiserating with Devastated Things by Jason M Wirth

Commiserating with Devastated Things by Jason M Wirth

This study will attempt to understand, through both a careful reading of Kundera's oeuvre as well as a consideration of the Continental philosophical tradition, the place that Kundera calls the universe of the novel. I argue that Kundera transforms-not applies-philosophical reflection within the art form of the novel.

"Like Kafka but for different reasons, Kundera has been not been fully at home in Prague, and so it is not surprising that this major reflection on existential, political, musical, and novelistic dimensions of Kundera's literature and literary theory migrates beyond Bohemian coastsWriting with a Zen sense of Czech irony and from a comparative East-West perspective, Wirth situates Kundera's opus at the borders of philosophy and literature. Commiserating with Devastated Things draws Kundera's characters and ideas into dialogue with the intellectual history from Plato to Nietzsche to Musil and Kafka to Deleuze and Dogen." -- -Martin Matustik Arizona State University "Wirth's book is an enormous gift. It flirts successfully with Philosophy's self-proclaimed grandeur without giving up on its deepest, often laughable desires. It is in its encounter with the novel that Philosophy is best tested, teased, and held accountable. And in the absence of a conversation with Philosophy, perhaps the novel's own explorations-of contingency, ambiguity, and irony-lack the kind of pursuit its implications demand. Wirth's commiserations with Kundera's concerns and with Philosophy's display the best of both worlds, with rich and stunning force. Perhaps no novelist satirizes Philosophy more compellingly than Kundera while seducing any thinker to dare rescuing it from its own well-worn fantasies. I can think of no one who's done a greater service than Wirth at crossing the borders, at putting Kundera's labors and those of Philosophy into such compelling dialogue. Both testaments risk betrayal; neither is betrayed. We can be grateful for Wirth's exceptional guidance in how to inhabit both worlds so fully." -- -Timothy Engstrom Rochester Institute of Technology "A unique, groundbreaking work that crosses the disciplinary lines between philosophy and literature to advance a highly creative thesis regarding the nature of thinking itself." -- -Leah Kalmanson Drake University

Jason Wirth is Professor of Philosophy and the current Piggott-McCone chair of the Arts and Sciences at Seattle University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780823268207
ISBN 10	0823268209
Title	Commiserating with Devastated Things
Author	Jason M Wirth
Series	Perspectives In Continental Philosophy
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Fordham University Press
Year published	2015-10-20
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.