Synopses & Reviews
The 1870s in France - Rimbauds moment, and the subject of this book - is a decade virtually ignored in most standard histories of France. Yet it was the moment of two significant spatial events: Frances expansion on a global scale, and, in the spring of 1871, the brief existence of the Paris Commune - the construction of revolutionary urban space. Arguing that space, as a social fact, is always political and strategic, Kristen Ross has written a book that is at once history and geography of the Communes anarchist culture - its political language and social relations, its values, strategies, and stances.
Central to her analysis of the Commune as social space and oppositional culture is a close textual reading of Arthur Rimbauds poetry. His poems - a common thread running through the book - are one set of documents among many in Rosss recreation of the Communard experience. Rimbaud, Paul Lafargue, and the social geographer Elisee Reclus serve as emblematic figures moving within and on the periphery of the Commune; in their resistance to the logic and economy of a capitalist conception of work, in their challenge to work itself as a term of identity, all three posed a threat to the existing order. Ross looks at these and other emancipator notions as aspects of Communard life, each with an analogous strategy in Rimbauds poetry. Applying contemporary theory to a wealth of little-known archival material, she has written a fresh, persuasive, and original book.
Synopsis
A thrilling ride through the literature of Rimbaud in a France in the throes of revolution."Verso's beautifully designed Radical Thinkers series, which brings together seminal works by leading left-wing intellectuals, is a sophisticated blend of theory and thought. The authors whose writings are included in the series have worked tirelessly to expose the mechanisms by which culture and knowledge are manufactured, managed and controlled."Ziauddin Sardar, New Statesman
Synopsis
Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible to scholars, students, researchers, and general readers. Rich with historical and cultural value, these works are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The books offered through Minnesota Archive Editions are produced in limited quantities according to customer demand and are available through select distribution partners.
About the Author
Kristin Ross is a professor of comparative literature at New York University.