Description
Taking a phenomenological approach to allegory, Structures of Appearing seeks to revise the history of aesthetics, identifying it is an ideology that has long subjugated art to philosophical criteria of judgment. Rather than being a mere signifying device, allegory is the structure by which something appears that cannot otherwise appear. It thus supports the appearance and necessary experience of philosophical ideas that are otherwise impossible to present or represent. Allegory is as central to philosophy as it is to literature. Following suggestions by Walter Benjamin, Machosky argues that allegory itself must appear allegorically and thus cannot be forced into a logos-centric metaphysical system. She builds on the work of Maurice Blanchot and Emmanuel Levinas to argue that the allegorical image is not a likeness to anything, not a subjective reflection, but an absolute otherness that becomes accessible by virtue of its unique structure. Allegory thus makes possible not merely the textual work of literature but the work that literature is. Machosky develops this insight in readings of Prudentius, Dante, Spenser, Hegel, Goethe, and Kafka.
Seeks to revise the history of aesthetics, identifying it as an ideology that has long subjugated art to philosophical criteria of judgment
About the Author
Brenda Machosky is Associate Professor in Humanities and English at the University of Hawai'i West O'ahu. She is the editor of Thinking Allegory Otherwise.
Reviews
"Machosky advances a clear and far-reaching thesis about art and allegory, in the lineage of De Man and Teskey, in her own voice and with her own historical mapping of relevant texts. The result is a strong contribution to comparative and historical studies that renews the concept of the literary at a time when so many scholars and teachers of literature/culture are fleeing from the literary and favoring the ethical or the affective or the posthuman turn." -- -Philip E. Lewis Cornell University "Structures of Appearing may just be the most considerable book on literary allegory of the past decade and more, and should be very influential. Besides being one of those rare works that can rework a field, it is well-written, well-organized and, even for so hard-minded an argument, a real pleasure to read." -- -Timothy J. Reiss New York University
Book Information
ISBN 9780823242849
Author Brenda Machosky
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Fordham University Press
Publisher Fordham University Press
Seeks to revise the history of aesthetics, identifying it as an ideology that has long subjugated art to philosophical criteria of judgment
About the Author
Brenda Machosky is Associate Professor in Humanities and English at the University of Hawai'i West O'ahu. She is the editor of Thinking Allegory Otherwise.
Reviews
"Machosky advances a clear and far-reaching thesis about art and allegory, in the lineage of De Man and Teskey, in her own voice and with her own historical mapping of relevant texts. The result is a strong contribution to comparative and historical studies that renews the concept of the literary at a time when so many scholars and teachers of literature/culture are fleeing from the literary and favoring the ethical or the affective or the posthuman turn." -- -Philip E. Lewis Cornell University "Structures of Appearing may just be the most considerable book on literary allegory of the past decade and more, and should be very influential. Besides being one of those rare works that can rework a field, it is well-written, well-organized and, even for so hard-minded an argument, a real pleasure to read." -- -Timothy J. Reiss New York University
Book Information
ISBN 9780823242849
Author Brenda Machosky
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Fordham University Press
Publisher Fordham University Press
