The Work of Literature

335 Pages·2017·5.989 MB·English

by  Derek Attridge

THE WORK OF LITERATURE

D E R E K A T T R I D G E
THE WORK OF
LITERATURE
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 
Part I
. The Singularity of Literature: A Cross-examination 
Whatis‘literature’? 
Theliteraryevent 
Literaryinvention 
Terminologicalquestions 
Media,periods,andgenres 
Othernessandethics 
Theaesthetictradition 
Sourcesandparallels 
Politicsandideology 
Andtoconclude... 
Part II
. Justice 
Doingjustice 
Anexample:Dickinson’s‘AsimperceptiblyasGrief’ 
Signatureandcounter-signature 
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CONTENTS
. Singularity 
Unpackingsingularity 
Singularityandethics 
Asingularinvention:Donoghue’sRoom 
. Criticism 
Criticalpower:thecritic 
Criticalpower:thepoet 
Muldoon’sTheLoafandthelimitsofcommentary 
. Context 
Thecontextofcreation 
Thecontextofreading 
Presentreadingandhistoricalcontext 
. Culture 
Inventivenessandculturaldistance 
ReadingTheYacoubianBuilding 
Responsiblereadingacrosscultures 
. Metaphor 
Performingliterature 
Metaphorandmetaphoricity 
Metaphorandthereader 
. Knowing 
Whatdoliteraryworksknow? 
Waysofknowingandthinking 
Literature’ssecrets 
. Affect 
Literaryaffect:McCarthy’sBloodMeridian 
Affectandform 
Pleasureinreading 
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,28/2/2015,SPi
CONTENTS
. Hospitality 
Thedoublelawofhospitality 
Hospitalityasethics 
Invention,grace,andlife 
Hospitalityandliterarycriticism 
References 
Index 
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Althoughthisbookpresentsitselfasaworkbyasingleauthor—
theonlyovertconversationisonewithmyself—it’sinrealitythe
outcomeofmanyconversations,andwill,Ihope,constituteaspurto
further conversations. Among the considerable number who have
contributed in this way over many years and in many countries
Ican single outonlyafewto thank by name:MichaelBeaney,Peggy
Kamuf, John Bowen, Kate Briggs, Jonathan Culler, Ziad Elmarsafy,
TomFurniss,IanHacking,NicholasHarrison,MartinHägglund,Julián
Heffernan, Peter Lamarque, Ju(cid:1)rate_ Levina, Paul Muldoon, Henry Sta-
ten, Asja Szafraniec, and Aukje van Rooden. I’m grateful too to the
colleagues who invited me to give talks that led to a large portion of
this book, and the audiences whose questions forced me to sharpen
mythinking.AsignificantnumberofthequestionsIputtomyselfin
the ‘cross-examination’ of Part  arose in these interchanges, both
privateandpublic.
The book benefited enormously from fellowships in two tranquil
and supportive environments in South Africa and Italy, the Stellen-
bosch Institute for Advanced Study and the Bogliasco Foundation,
wherethestaff wereunfailingly efficientand helpful. Amonth atthe
Maison Suger of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in
Pariswasalsoimmenselyproductive.Asalways,mythreeclosefamily
members, Suzanne Hall, Laura Attridge, and Eva Attridge, provided
lovingsupport,welcomedistraction,andmuchlaughter.
IwishtodedicatethisbooktothememoryofColinGardner(–
), academic, activist, and politician, whose ‘Poetics’ seminar in
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, fifty years ago invited me into the
never-endingconversationaboutthemeaningandvalueofliterature.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
* * *
Someofthematerialinthisbookhasbeenreprinted,inrevisedform,fromthe
followingpublications:
‘CanWeDoJusticetoLiterature?’,PNReview(),–.
‘Signature/Countersignature:Derrida’sResponsetoUlysses’,inDerridaandJoyce:
Texts andContexts, ed.AndrewJ.MitchellandSamSlote, SUNY Press,,
–.
‘Context,Idioculture,Invention’,copyright#NewLiteraryHistory,TheUniversity
ofVirginia.ThisarticlefirstappearedinNEWLITERARYHISTORYVolume
,Issue,Autumn,,–.
‘Afterword:ResponsibleReadingandCulturalDifference’,NewFormationsno.
(),ReadingafterEmpire,–.
‘Performing Metaphors: The Singularity of Literary Figuration’, The Idea of the
Literary, ed. Nicholas Harrison, Special Issue of Paragraph, . (July ),
–.
‘OnKnowingWorksofArt’,inInsideKnowledge:(Un)doingWaysofKnowinginthe
Humanities,ed.CarolynBirdsalletal.,CambridgeScholarsPress,,–.
‘OnceMorewithFeeling:Fiction,PerformanceandAffect’,‘AffectsandPerfor-
mativity’,ed.AlexHouen,SpecialIssueofTextualPractice,.(),–.
Iamgratefulforpermissiontoquotepoemsasfollows:
Emily Dickinson, ‘As imperceptibly as Grief’, reprinted by permission of the
publishersandtheTrusteesofAmherstCollegefromTHEPOEMSOFEMILY
DICKINSON: VARIORUM EDITION, edited by Ralph W. Franklin, Cam-
bridge,Mass:The BelknapPressofHarvardUniversityPress,Copyright#
 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright # ,
,,bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege.
Paul Muldoon, ‘The Loaf’, in Moy Sand and Gravel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
),bykindpermissionofPaulMuldoon.
John Wilkinson, ‘Mount Disk’, in Blackbox Manifold Issue  (), by kind
permissionofJohnWilkinson.
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