Quand les diverses saveurs, cessant de s'opposer les unes aux autres, restent contenues dans la plénitude : le mérite de la fadeur est de nous faire accéder à ce fond indifférencié des choses ; sa neutralité exprime la capacité inhérente au centre. A ce stade, le réel n'est plus " bloqué " dans des manifestations partiales et trop voyantes ; le concret devient discret, il s'ouvre à la transformation. La fadeur des choses appelle au détachement intérieur. Mais elle est aussi (...) une vertu, notamment dans notre rapport à autrui, parce qu'elle est gage d'authenticité ; elle doit être aussi à la base de notre personnalité puisque, seule, elle permet de posséder également toutes les aptitudes et de faire preuve, en chaque occasion, de la faculté requise. Sur ce lieu commun de la fadeur se rencontrent et s'entendent tous les courants de la pensée chinoise : confucianisme, taoïsme, bouddhisme. Ces courants ne l'envisagent donc ni sur un mode abstrait, à finalité théorique, ni, à l'autre bord, comme un ineffable, à vocation mystique. Mais c'est lui que révèlent, par leur dépouillement et leur richesse allusive, les arts de la Chine peinture, musique ou poésie. En nous conduisant à la limite du sensible, là où celui-ci s'efface et se résorbe, la fadeur nous fait éprouver un " au-delà ". Mais ce dépassement ne débouche pas sur un autre monde, à statut métaphysique, coupé de la sensation. Il déploie seulement celui-ci - mais décanté de son opacité, redevenu virtuel, rendu disponible - sans fin - à la jouissance. (shrink)

Disfiguring is constructive or, perhaps more accurately, reconstructive. By exploring the religious dimensions of twentieth-century painting and architecture, he shows how the visual arts continue to serve as a rich resource for the theological imagination.

En politique, comme en poésie, les Chinois privilégient l'expression allusive, la formulation détournée. Et au face à face, ils préfèrent la subtilité d'un abord de biais. Ils "chinoisent", dit-on d'ailleurs, parce qu'on ne comprend pas comment ils procèdent. A travers l'analyse de quelques-uns des grands textes de la pensée chinoise les Entretiens de Confucius, le Mencius, etc. François Jullien montre qu'il s'agit, en fait, d'une stratégie du sens particulière, qui a son efficacité propre. Par là même, il nous conduit à (...) revenir sur quelques-uns de nos partis pris théoriques : celui notamment qui prétend cerner au plus près l'objet du discours, en tant que vérité, comme celui qui interprète le détour de la parole à partir d'un dédoublement entre la chose et l'Idée. Détours et retours : ce travail devient alors un cheminement patient, un voyage au lointain pays de la "subtilité" qui, finalement, se révèle une invitation à remonter dans notre propre pensée. (shrink)

This compilation contains three of the most revered and celebrated texts by the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. The Analects of Confucius Originally, these sayings and conversations were penned during the Warring States period of Chinese antiquity, which saw great social upheaval between the various realms of the Middle Kingdom. Divided into twenty principle chapters (called books) - the subjects range from wise behaviour in times of crisis to general instruction upon how to live a peaceful life characterised by a serene (...) mood, humility to others, and quality work performed well. The importance of harmonious relations in the family and wider community cooperation are also alluded to, offering an insight into the morals and customs of ancient Chinese life. The politics of the time, which were riddled with violent infighting among noble families and regional dukedoms, attracts attention from Confucius and his contemporaries. In order to vividly illustrate his points, examples and analogies abound and are delivered by Confucius as he engages with several other philosophers and acolytes. The Great Learning One of the classic four books of ancient Confucianism, The Great Learning consists of a short initial commentary attributed to Confucius himself, followed by a lengthier tract written by one of his disciples named Zengzi. The text emphasises achieving balance in everyday life and in thoughts. For the man who aspires to great wisdom, much time must be set aside for rest and contemplation. Life's priorities must be organised according to their importance, and harmony must be rigorously cultivated in everyday associations and relationships. In learning, one must not consider one kind superior to the exclusion of others, but must instead strive for balance. The Doctrine of the Mean Another classic book of Confucian thought, The Doctrine of the Mean is a practical guide for those aspiring to sublime wisdom. It demonstrates how a balanced, harmonious manner of living is the most conducive to joy and satisfaction - once one has embarked on the process of the mean, they may never depart it. Good self-perception, a sincere heart and spirit, and treating others as oneself would like to be treated are the core principles of this text. For many centuries, it was a central pillar of education in China, since it emphasised the social bonds that exist between family members, and the people to the state. ----- The translator James Legge was a Scottish Sinologist who spent much of his adult life in China collecting and translating the various philosophical and literary classics. Since Legge was present in the pre-modern China of the 19th century, where Confucianism held much sway, the authenticity of the tone cannot be doubted. Devoting his talents to accurately rendering Confucian thought for Western consideration, Legge's translations of the Chinese Classics were originally published by Oxford University Press, and remain strongly appreciated for their authenticity to this day. (shrink)

Franke reads the Divine Comedy through the insights into interpretation developed by hermeneutics, and at the same time uses Dante's poem, with its interpretive praxis based on a theological vision, to challenge prevailing assumptions about interpretation today. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

In _A Philosophy of the Unsayable_, William Franke argues that the encounter with what exceeds speech has become the crucial philosophical issue of our time. He proposes an original philosophy pivoting on analysis of the limits of language. The book also offers readings of literary texts as poetically performing the philosophical principles it expounds. Franke engages with philosophical theologies and philosophies of religion in the debate over negative theology and shows how apophaticism infiltrates the thinking even of those who attempt (...) to deny or delimit it._ In six cohesive essays, Franke explores fundamental aspects of unsayability. In the first and third essays, his philosophical argument is carried through with acute attention to modes of unsayability that are revealed best by literary works, particularly by negativities of poetic language in the oeuvres of Paul Celan and Edmond Jabès. Franke engages in critical discussion of apophatic currents of philosophy both ancient and modern, focusing on Hegel and French post-Hegelianism in his second essay and on Neoplatonism in his fourth essay. He treats Neoplatonic apophatics especially as found in Damascius and as illuminated by postmodern thought, particularly Jean-Luc Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity. In the last two essays, Franke treats the tension between two contemporary approaches to philosophy of religion—Radical Orthodoxy and radically secular or Death-of-God theologies. _A Philosophy of the Unsayable _will interest scholars and students of philosophy, literature, religion, and the humanities. This book develops Franke's explicit theory of unsayability, which is informed by his long-standing engagement with major representatives of apophatic thought in the Western tradition. "William Franke is an articulate spokesman for what cannot be said not only with regards to modern European poetry but also with respect to contemporary theology. _A Philosophy of the Unsayable _is essential reading for everyone working in religion and literature and in modern theology." — Kevin Hart, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies, University of Virginia __ "By now, it would seem that there could be no more to say about not-saying. Apophatic language and negative theology have been accused of meaninglessness, nihilism, and even ill-concealed ontologies. In this lovely and surprising book, William Franke not only deftly undoes these criticisms but shows that apophasis underlies and strangely grounds all language and thought, even of those very discourses that most vigorously reject it. _A Philosophy of the Unsayable_ demonstrates with elegance that there is indeed more to say, and more that is both meaningful and important." — Karmen MacKendrick, Le Moyne College__ "William Franke is an eminent scholar in comparative literature, who is schooled in philosophy and religion. He is recognized as one of the most creative contemporary thinkers working at the double intersection of philosophy and literature and philosophy and theology. _A Philosophy of the Unsayable_ shows an intellectual grasp of a dizzying array of discourses and sheds real light on all thinkers who are discussed." — Cyril O'Regan, Huisking Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame_. (shrink)

Theology, particularly negative theology (which maintains that we can know only what God is not), has taken the lead historically in developing reflection on the limits of language and the beyond o...

For almost three decades, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has been ignoring the standardized "rules" of the academy and trespassing across disciplinary boundaries. Today she remains one of the foremost figures in the study of world literature and its cultural consequences. In this new book she declares the death of comparative literature as we know it and sounds an urgent call for a "new comparative literature," in which the discipline is given new life -- one that is not appropriated and determined by (...) the market.In the era of globalization, when mammoth projects of world literature in translation are being undertaken in the United States, how can we protect the multiplicity of languages and literatures at the university? Spivak demonstrates how critics interested in social justice should pay close attention to literary form and offers new interpretations of classics such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. Through close readings of texts not only in English, French, and German but also in Arabic and Bengali, Spivak practices what she preaches.Acclaim for Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and her work:"[Spivak] pioneered the study in literary theory of non-Western women." -- Edward W. Said"She has probably done more long-term political good, in pioneering feminist and post-colonial studies within global academia, than almost any of her theoretical colleagues." -- Terry Eagleton"A celebrity in academia... create[s] a stir wherever she goes." -- The New York Times. (shrink)

Negative theology or apophasis - the idea that God is best identified in terms of 'absence', 'otherness', 'difference' - has been influential in modern Christian thought, resonating as it does with secular notions of negation developed in continental philosophy. Apophasis also has a strong intellectual history dating back to the early Church Fathers. Silence and the Word both studies the history of apophasis and examines its relationship with contemporary secular philosophy. Leading Christian thinkers explore in their own way the extent (...) to which the concept of the apophatic illumines some of the deepest doctrinal structures of Christian faith, and of Christian self-understanding both in terms of its historical and contemporary situatedness, showing how a dimension of negativity has characterised not only traditional mysticism but most forms of Christian thought over the years. (shrink)

"What good is the study of literature? Does it help us think more clearly, or feel more sensitively, or live a better life than we could without it?"Written in the relaxed and frequently humorous style of his public lectures, this remains, of Northrop Frye's many books, perhaps the easiest introduction to his theories of literature and literary education.

The ancient doctrine of negative theology or apophasis--the attempt to describe God by speaking only of what cannot be said about the divine perfection and goodness--has taken on new life in the concern with language and its limits that preoccupies much postmodern philosophy, theology, and related disciplines. How does this mystical tradition intersect with the concern with material bodies that is simultaneously a focus in these areas? This volume pursues the unlikely conjunction of apophasis and the body, not for the (...) cachet of the "cutting edge" but rather out of an ethical passion for the integrity of all creaturely bodies as they are caught up in various ideological mechanisms--religious, theological, political, economic--that threaten their dignity and material well-being. The contributors, a diverse collection of scholars in theology, philosophy, history, and biblical studies, rethink the relationship between the concrete tradition of negative theology and apophatic discourses widely construed. They further endeavor to link these to the theological theme of incarnation and more general issues of embodiment, sexuality, and cosmology. Along the way, they engage and deploy the resources of contextual and liberation theology, post-structuralism, postcolonialism, process thought, and feminism. The result not only recasts the nature and possibilities of theological discourse but explores the possibilities of academic discussion across and beyond disciplines in concrete engagement with the well-being of bodies, both organic and inorganic. The volume interrogates the complex capacities of religious discourse both to threaten and positively to draw upon the material well-being of creation. (shrink)

In _Poetry and Apocalypse_, Franke seeks to find the premises for dialogue between cultures, especially religious fundamentalisms—including Islamic fundamentalism—and modern Western secularism. He argues that in order to be genuinely open, dialogue needs to accept possibilities such as religious apocalypse in ways that can be best understood through the experience of poetry. Franke reads Christian epic and prophetic tradition as a secularization of religious revelation that preserves an understanding of the essentially apocalyptic character of truth and its disclosure in history. (...) The usually neglected negative theology that undergirds this apocalyptic tradition provides the key to a radically new view of apocalypse as at once religious and poetic. (shrink)

All or nothing? Nature in Chinese thought and the apophatic occident -- Nothing and the poetic making of sense -- Immanence: the last word? -- Universalism, or the nothing that is all -- An extra word on originality -- Intercultural dia-logue and its apophatic interstices -- Analytic table of contents.

L'auteur interroge l'oeuvre de Kafka, Holderlin, Rilke, Mallarmé et de bien d'autres; il n'existe peut-être pas de méditation aussi rigoureuse, aussi riche, sur les conduites créatrices dans toute l'histoire de la critique.