Synopses & Reviews
Written in the context of a rejuvenated interest in the work of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), the essays gathered in The Solid Letter offer the first consolidated attempt in English to set out the many facets of his oeuvre. Addressed not only to specialists in German studies but also to readers interested in modern poetry, philosophy, and aesthetics, the volume is wide in scope but succinct in nature, aiming to assert the relevance of Hölderlin for thinking about history, culture, and language today.
The Solid Letter not only reads Hölderlins finished work, but also treats the processual character of his writing. By discussing interrelationships among unpublished variants, theoretical and poetic texts, and different conceptions of the distinction between theory and practice, the essays provide an opportunity to reassess the categories by which humanistic study presently is defined.
The volume addresses the implications of Hölderlins notion of history, the stakes involved in certain of his key concepts, and the significance of seemingly auxiliary materials and kinds of texts not commonly considered intrinsic to an authors oeuvre (such as translations and letters). The essays are attuned to the complex resonances of Hölderlins writerly practice, thereby contributing to our grasp of the political and historiographical implications of reading.
The volume concludes with a select bibliography of Hölderlin in English that lists all book-length translations of his literary writings, the more significant translations of his theoretical texts and letters, and most critical studies available in English devoted in part or whole to Hölderlin.
Synopsis
Addressed not only to specialists in German studies but also to readers interested in modern poetry, philosophy, and aesthetics, this volume is wide in scope but succinct in nature, aiming to assert the relevance of the work of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) for thinking about history, culture, and language today.
Synopsis
Demonstrating the renewed critical interest in Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), the essays in this book both map the present-day nexus of philosophy and literature (for which Hölderlin is a historical exemplar) and reveal shifting allegiances among a group of critics at the cutting edge of contemporary theory. Addressed not only to specialists in German studies but also to readers interested in modern poetry, comparative literature, literary theory, and philosophy, the essays aim to establish the relevance of Hölderlin for thinking about history, culture, and language today. The volume concludes with a select bibliography of Hölderlin in English that lists all book-length translations of his literary writings, the more significant translations of his theoretical texts and letters, and most critical studies available in English devoted in part or whole to Hölderlin.
Synopsis
This is a volume of essays on the work of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), addressed to specialists in German literature, those interested in modern poetry, literary theory and philosophy. It concludes with a select bibliography of Hölderlin in English.
Synopsis
[The Solid Letter] should bring new readers to Holderlin, and they will be helped by the best bibliography available of translations and criticism in English.”MLR
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [483]-505) and index.
About the Author
Aris Fioretos is Senior Researcher in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Stockholm. Among his books are a translation into Swedish of Hölderlins patriotic hymns” and The Gray Book (Stanford, 1999).
Table of Contents
Sources and abbreviations; Introduction Aris Fioretos; Part I: 1. Measure for measure: Hölderlin and the place of philosophy Peter Fenves; 2. The calculation of the poet Jean-Luc Nancy; 3. Poetry's courage Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe; 4. 'Winke': divine topoi in Hölderlin, Heidegger, Nancy Hent de Vries; 5. Hölderlin's christ Jean-François Courtine; 6. Epistolary writing, fate, language: Hölderlin's 'hyperion' Edgar Pankow; Part II: 7. Figures of duality: Hölderlin and Greek tragedy Arnaud Villani; 8. Monstrous history: Heidegger reading Hölderlin Andrzej Warminski; 9. Disowning contingences in Hölderlin's 'empedocles' Stanley Corngold; 10. Reading the 'poetics' after the 'rermarks' Christopher Fynsk; 11. Ancient sports and modern transports: Hölderlin's tragic bodies Rainer Näggele; 12. Color read: Hölderlin and translation Aris Fioretos; Part III: 13. The philosophy of poetic form: Hölderlin's theory of poetry and teh classical German elegy Cyrus Hamlin; 14. 'Brod und Wein': from the 'classical' final version to the later revision Bernhard Böschenstein; 15. Turns and echoes: two examples of Hölderlin's poetics Arne Melberg; 16. Hölderlin's marginalization of language Hans-Jost Frey; 17. The highest Thomas Schestag; Notes; Hölderlin in English: a bibliography; Index of names.