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The Age of the Poets

And Other Writings on Twentieth-Century Poetry and Prose
By Alain Badiou
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Age of the Poets explores the complex relationship between literature and philosophy, challenging the perspectives of Plato and Heidegger. Alain Badiou argues that philosophy need not exclude poetry nor yield entirely to art, but instead must acknowledge the end of the "age of the poets" spanning from Hölderlin to Celan. Through insightful analyses of contemporary French prose, Badiou illuminates the theory of the novel and situates literature distinctively between science and ideology.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$7700

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Ideal for readers interested in philosophy, literature, and cultural theory, especially those drawn to the intersections of arts and intellectual thought.

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New and illuminating set of analyses of literature from one of France's most important living philosophers

New and illuminating set of analyses of literature from one of France's most important living philosophers

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Age of the Poets revisits the age-old problem of the relation between literature and philosophy, arguing against both Plato and Heidegger's famous arguments. Philosophy neither has to ban the poets from the republic nor abdicate its own powers to the sole benefit of poetry or art. Instead, it must declare the end of what Badiou names the "age of the poets," which stretches from Hölderlin to Celan.

Drawing on ideas from his first publication on the subject, "The Autonomy of the Aesthetic Process," Badiou offers an illuminating set of readings of contemporary French prose writers, giving us fascinating insights into the theory of the novel while also accounting for the specific position of literature between science and ideology.

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Praised by Slavoj Zizek as embodying the spirit of Plato and Hegel, Badiou is regarded as a key intellectual figure. The New Statesman acknowledges him as an heir to Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser, while BBC HARDtalk highlights his influence in France’s anti-capitalist left since 1968. Joan Copjec names him one of the most important philosophers writing today.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781781685693

Publisher: Verso Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 November 2014

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Verso Books

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Bruno Bosteels
  • Translated by Bruno Bosteels
  • Introduction by Emily Apter

Audience: Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 332g

Pages: 252

Collections

Alain Badiou Arts & Culture Non-Fiction

About the Author

Alain Badiou teaches philosophy at the École normale supérieure and the Collège international de philosophie in Paris. In addition to several novels, plays and political essays, he has published a number of major philosophical works, including Theory of the Subject, Being and Event, Manifesto for Philosophy, and Gilles Deleuze. His recent books include The Rebirth of History, Ethics, Metapolitics, Polemics, The Communist Hypothesis, Five Lessons on Wagner, and Wittgenstein's Anti-Philosophy.

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