Rich with literary awards and honours, Alberto Manguel extends his literary genius to address and complete a thoughtfully crafted extrapolation on a paper left unfinished by Northrop Frye in 1943. The result is a succinct yet densely multilayered examination of how various readings of Homer throughout the annals of history cast light upon the human tendency towards war rather than peace and asks what roles writing and reading play to bring the world into better equilibrium. Central to this lecture is the concept of re-binding, a word drawn from the Latin roots for the word religion, which Manguel posits is the essential definition of poetry. Homer's writings, the point of origin of all written verse, are also the first written instance of the binding of imagined, written, and read realities. The semantics of Homer's name and the literal and figurative ramifications of his blindness are investigated as Manguel builds the scaffold for unveiling our own blindness through our desire to read Homer in our own image. We are left to examine our own assumptions.ComblA (c) de prix littA (c)raires et d'honneurs, Alberto Manguel prAte son gA (c)nie littA (c)raire A l'A (c)tude et au parachAvement d'une extrapolation songA (c)e que Northrop Frye avait laissA (c)e en plan en 1943. Il en rA (c)sulte une analyse succincte mais en replis serrA (c)s des multiples lectures d'HomAre lA (c)guA (c)es par les siAcles, qui rA (c)vAle comment ces interprA (c)tations A (c)clairent la propension humaine A la guerre plutA't qu'A la paix, ce qui le mAne A s'interroger sur le rA'le que jouent l'A (c)criture et la lecture quand il s'agit de crA (c)er un monde plus A (c)quilibrA (c). La notion de re-lier, un mot dont les racines latines sont les mAmes que le mot religion, est au coeur de cette confA (c)rence, et Manguel en fait la dA (c)finition essentielle de la poA (c)sie. Les A (c)crits d'HomAre, point d'origine de toute la poA (c)sie A (c)crite, fournissent aussi la premiAre occurrence d'un lien entre les rA (c)alitA (c)s imaginA (c)es, A (c)crites et lues. La valeur sA (c)mantique du nom d'HomAre et les rA (c)percussions concrAtes et figurA (c)es de sa cA (c)citA (c) font partie des A (c)lA (c)ments que Manguel scrute pour fonder son A (c)vocation de notre aveuglement A nous quand nous insistons pour lire HomAre A notre propre image. Nous n'avons plus qu'A remettre nos hypothAses.

Book Information
ISBN 9780864925169
Author Alberto Manguel
Format Paperback
Page Count 80
Imprint Goose Lane Editions
Publisher Goose Lane Editions
Weight(grams) 98g