Against the background of intellectual and political debates in France during the 1950s and 1960s, Daniel Just examines literary narratives and works of literary criticism arguing that these texts are more politically engaged than they may initially appear. As writings by Roland Barthes, Maurice Blanchot, Albert Camus, and Marguerite Duras show, seemingly disengaged literary principles - such as blankness, minimalism, silence, and indeterminateness - can be deployed to a number of potent political and ethical ends. At the time the main focus of this activism was the escalation of violence in colonial Algeria. The poetics formulated by these writers suggests that blankness, weakness, and withdrawal from action are not symptoms of impotence and political escapism in the face of historical events, but deliberate literary strategies aimed to neutralize the drive to dominate others that characterized the colonial project.

A wide-ranging account of French literature of the 1950s and 1960s showing how politically engaged leading writers were.

About the Author
Daniel Just is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bilkent University, Ankara. He has published a number of articles in journals including the Modern Language Review, New Literary History, MLN, the Forum for Modern Language Studies, and Philosophy and Literature.

Reviews
'Throughout his detailed, meticulous analyses, Daniel Just astutely and persistently argues that disengagement is ethical and political.' Colin Davis, French Studies: A Quarterly Review



Book Information
ISBN 9781107093881
Author Daniel Just
Format Hardback
Page Count 225
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 470g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 160mm * 16mm