Synopses & Reviews
The most recently acknowledged--and the most private--of the masters of modernity, Paul Valéry is perhaps the most radical and wide-ranging. He navigates freely within the mental galaxies known to scientists, poets, literary theorists, musicians, philosophers, historians and social anthropologists, always concerned with exploring the potential and limits of the human mind. This volume of essays by internationally recognized scholars offers the first comprehensive account in English or French of Valéry's work. It brings into focus the deeper coherence that animates what Valéry called his "unitary mind in a thousand pieces," and offers new perspectives on the immense range of his experimental and fragmentary writings.
Synopsis
The first comprehensive account of the work of the French modernist writer Paul Valéry.
Synopsis
Originally published in 1999, this was the first comprehensive account of the work of the French modernist writer Paul Valery.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I. Self-Science: 1. Towards a biography of the mind Ned Bastet; 2. Thinking-writing games of the Cahiers Paul Gifford; 3. Paradigms of the self: Valéryâs mythical models Robert Pickering; 4. The fascination of science Judith Robinson-Valéry; 5. An art of rethinking: Valéryâs ânegative philosophyâRégine Pietra; Part II. Self-Writings: 6. The poetics of practice and theory M. Jarrety; 7. âEsprit, Attente, pur, éternel suspens ...âValéryâs prose poetry Stephen Romer; 8. The Dialogues and âMon Faustâ: Valéryâs republic of the mind William Marx; 9. Counter-fiction Brian Stimpson; 10. Major poems: the voice of the subject J.-M. Maulpoix; 11. Other voices: intertextuality and the art of pure poetry Suzanne Nash; 12. Manuscript steps: âLes PasâFlorence de Lussy; Part III. Body, Mind, World: 13. An aesthetics of the subject: music and the visual arts Brian Stimpson; 14. Politics, history and the modern world Nicole Celeyrette-Pietri; 15. Valéry and the feminine Kirsteen Anderson; 16. Dream and the unconscious Malcolm Bowie; 17. Self and other: Valéryâs âlost object of desireâPaul Gifford; Conclusion.