| Description |
xii, 260 pages ; 25 cm |
|
regular print |
| Contents |
1. Dangerous Good Words -- 2. A Short History of the Unreal -- 3. Remnants of Hegel -- 4. Realism, Authenticity, and the New Biographical Culture -- 5. Tele-Suffering and Testimony -- 6. Testimony and Authenticity -- 7. The Letter as Revenant -- 8. Text and Spirit -- 9. Transparency Reconsidered -- 10. Who Needs Goethe? -- 11. The Virtue of Attentiveness -- 12. Democracy's Museum -- 13. Aestheticide |
| Summary |
"In this collection of essays, noted critic Geoffrey Hartman raises the essential question of where we can find the real or authentic in today's world, and how this affects the way we understand our human predicament. Hartman explores such issues as the fantasy of total information and perfect communication encouraged by the internet, the biographical excesses of tell-all talk shows that serve to shore up a personal sense of unreality, the tendency to motivate violence in the name of some moral or spiritual necessity, and the increased difficulty of distinguishing between fakery and truth in confessional and testimonial writing. Underlying the entire book is the crucial issue of how the trauma of the Holocaust and other genocidal acts, brought home to us almost daily by the media, is shaping our quest for agency, identity, and meaning."--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
English |
| Subject |
Reality.
|
|
Literature -- Philosophy.
|
|
Literature, Modern -- History and criticism.
|
|
Art and philosophy.
|
|
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature.
|
|
Civilization -- Philosophy.
|
|
Authenticity (Philosophy)
|
| LC no. |
2002020727 |
| ISBN |
0312295693 hardback |
|
1403965587 paperback |
|
