Typography: Mimesis, Philosophy, Politics

by Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jacques Derrida (Introduction), Christopher Fynsk (Editor)

The relationships between philosophy and aesthetics and between philosophy and politics are especially pressing issues today. Those who explore these themes will applaud the publication--for the first time in English--of this important collection, one that reveals the scope and force of Lacoue-Labarthe's reflections on mimesis, subjectivity, and representation in philosophical thought.

This coherent and rigorous body of work reflects the author's complex and subtle treatment of mimesis in the history of philosophy from Plato to Heidegger. It contains close critical analyses of works by Plato, Diderot, Hölderlin, Reik, Girard, and Heidegger, and moves through topics such as music, autobiography, tragedy, and the problem of historical and political self-definition.

Because Lacoue-Labarthe deals with issues that cross disciplinary lines, his work will appeal to readers interested in philosophy as it relates to politics, history, and aesthetics, especially literature. By showing that the concept of mimesis is an integral part of philosophical reasoning, he provides a challenging approach to many of Heidegger's ideas, and contributes to the poststructuralist (or post-modern) attempt to rethink the notions of reference and representation. This approach challenges readers to redefine their understanding of history and politics.

"Because mimesis is a necessity of any attempt at self-identification (including national self-identification), Lacoue-Labarthe's ability to think through the aporias and impasses of its logic leads to a truly 'post-Heideggerian' rethinking that would rewrite our understanding of history and politics and that is nothing short of a rethinking of our modernity."
-- Andrzej Warminski

Genres: Philosophy, Theory

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 1989

About the author

Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe—philosopher, literary critic, and translator—is one of the leading intellectuals in France. He teaches philosophy and aesthetics at the University of Strasbourg. Among his works translated into English is Typography: Mimesis, Philosophy, Politics (Stanford paperback edition, 1998).

Reviews

[Alex Obrigewitsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will most certainly be getting to writing a review of this work once I am up to the task. The importance of this book demands it. And though I realize I have been perhaps infinitely deferring the composition of reviews lately (due to health reasons, accompanied by moving and displacement), I hope the summer will allow me to return to those books that have recently slipped past the scrutiny of my pen and my thought.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has a useful essay on Holderlin and the double swerve (absence) of man and the gods. See my translation with Maxine Chernoff of Holderlin's "The Poet's Vocation," to which Lacoue-Labarthe refers, in Selected Poems of Friedrich Holderlin, to appear in September 2008 from Omnidawn Publishing.

[Sameh Samir]

Reading it