Allegories of Reading

313 Pages·2010·10.02 MB·English

Allegorieosf Readgi n
FiguralL anguage
inRo usseaNui,e tzsRcihIkee,an, d Proust
Paul de Man
NewH aveann dL ondon
YalUen iverPrseistys
1979
Publishwietdh a ssistfarnocmte h eKi ngsyl Truset As­
sociatioPnu blicaFutnido ens tablibys htehdeSc rolaln d
Key Society ofY alCeo llege.
Copyright© 1979b yY alUen iverAslilrity g.h trses erved.
Thibsoo k mayn otbe reproduciendw ,h oloer i np art,
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Harper &> Row, PublishTeorksyOf,ofi ce.
Congress CataloginPugb liinc aDtaitoan
Library of
DeM an,P aul.
Allegoroifere sa ding.
Incluidnedse x.
1.F renclhi terature-aHnidcs rtiotryi cism.
2.Ro usseauJ,e aJna cqu1e7s1,2 -1778--Style.
3. rGemanl iterature-Hainsdct roiryt icism.
4.F igureso fs peech.5 .Al legory.I .T itle.
PQ145.D45 809 79-64075
ISBN Q-30n0 23272
Quarui onl itrotp viteo utro p doucemento nn 'entend rien.
Pascal
Contents
Preface ix
PartI Rhetoric
1.S emiolaongyd Rh etoric 3
2.T rope(sR ilke) 20
3.Re adin(gP roust) 57
4. Genesiasn dGe nealo(gyN ietzsche) 79
5.R hetoorfiT cr ope(sN ietzsche) 103
6.R hetoorfiP ce rsuas(iNoine tzsche)1 19
PartII Rousseau
7.M etaph(oSer coDndis course) 135
8.S el(fPygma lion) 160
9. AllegUoryu lie) 188
10.A llegoofryR eadi(nPrg ofesdes iofno i)2 21
11.P romis(eSosc iaClo ntract) 246
12.Ex cuse(sC oesnfsions) 278
Index 303
Preface
ALLEGORIES OF READING STARTED OUT AS A HISTORICAL
studayn de ndeudp a sa theooryf r eadiInb ge.g atnor eaRodu sseau
seriouisnpl rye paraftoirao hni storriecflaelc toinoRo nm anticism
andf ounmdy selufn ablteop rogresbsey ondl ocadli fficultoife s
interpretIantt ryiinogtn o.c opwiet ht hiIsh ,a dt os hifftr ohmi stori­
cald efinittioot nh ep robletmiac osfr eadiTnhgi.ss h iftw,h icihs
typiaclo fm y generatiisoo fnm ,o rei nterienis ttrs e sutlhtasin n i ts
causeIstc. o ulidn,p rincilpelaetd,o a rhetoorfir ce adirnega ching
beyondt hcea nonipcrailn ciopfllietse rhairys twohryi csht islelrv ei,n
thibso oka,st hes tartpoiinngto ft heoiwnr displaceTmheenp tri.n ­
ciples undtehrtelh yienmga tic doifvRo eursssietyat uh,ec hronology
ofRi Ike andN ietzstchheer ,h etoorfiP cr ousatr,en otl efti ntabcyt
ther eadibnugt,t hicsr itirceaslu lt rdeempaneidnesno tn t hei nitial
positoifot nh esveery principWhleetsh.e ra furthsetre pw,h ich
woullde atvhei hse rmenemuotdiecbl e hincda,nbe takesnh ounlodt
ap riori orn aiveblety a kefno grra nted.
InP arItI o,n Ro usseaIuh ,a ve attetmhpeet leadb oration and
theu ndoionfga systoemft ropolotgriacnaslf ormiantt ihoefn osr m
ofa sustaianregudm entP.a rIte stablias shiemsi lpaart teirnan
moref ragmenwtaeydb ym ovinbge tweesne veraault horrast her
thasnt ayiwintgh ians ingcloerp usT.h ec hoiocfPe r ouasntd o fRiIke
ase xampliesps a rtdluyet oc hancbeu,ts intcheoe s tenspiabtlheoo fs
thetiorn aen dd eptohft hesitra temmeanktet hemp articurleasrilsy­
tanttoa r eaditnhgai tsn ol ongeenrt irtehleym atoincec, o uladr gue
thaitft heiwro rky ieltdoss u cahr hetorical stchhese ammee, would
necessabreit lruyef orwr iterwsh osreh etorsitcraalt eagriele ess s
hiddenb ehintdh es eductpiovew erosfi dentification.
What emergiessa proceosfsr eadiinngw hicrhh etoirsia c
dirusptivien tertwinionftg r opaen dp ersuasoiro-nw hicihsn ot
quitteh esa me thing-coofg nitainvdpe e rformative Tlhaen guage.
implciatioonfts h icso ncluasrein oonte astyou nfolndo,rc ant heyb e
statedi ns ummaryf ashisoenp,a raftreodtm h ei ntricoafcs ipeecsi fic
readingNse.v ertheless, oofsp upcoahnn ea nptpsro achha vbe een
moree agetroa ttawchka tt heya ssumteob ei tisd eological motives
Ix
PREFACE
rathtehran t het echnicaolfiititpesrs oced ure. Thiiss p articulartlruye
with regardt ot het enn "decotnrusctio"nw ,hichha sr apidlbeyc ome
a labeals w elals a targeMto.st oft hibsoo k waswr ittebne feo r
"deconstrucbetciaomne"a bone ofc onetntioann,dt het emr isu sde
herien a technicraalt htehra na polmeicasle nse-whicdhoe s not
implyt haittt h erefboerceo mense utroaril d eologiicnanlocleyn Btu.t
Isa w nor easotnod eleitteN. o o thewro rds tatseose conomictahlel y
imposs ibilittyoe valuate poosrin teigavteilvye tlhyei nescapable
evaluatiitio mnp lieSso.m ethiinsgl oswth ent hes amep rocesiss
describbyea d p urenleyga tivtee rma,s w henN ietzsscpeaksh e ofthe
destruct(iZertrUomnme rung) ofc oncteupaclo nstruocrtP sa scalo f
thed emolit(iodenmo litioofna ) c onvtiicotnh aits i tseallfr eaad y
destructIic oonn.s ciocuasmleya crsos" deconstrucftoirto hnefi" r ts
timei nt hewr itingso fJ acqueDse rridaw,h ichm eanst haitt i s
associawtietdah poweorf inventirvieg otrow hicIhl anyo c laibmu t
whicIhc ertaidnoln yo twi sh toe rasDee.c onstrucatsiw oanse, a sily
predictahbalsbe e,e nmu chm isrepresented, adsai hsamrimslssee sd
academgiacm e ord enouncaesda terrorwiesatp ona,n dI h avea ll
thef eweirl lusiaobnosut th ep ossibiolfci otyu ntertihnegsa eb erra­
tionssi ncseu cah ne xpectatwioounl gdo a gaintshted rioftf m y own
readings.
Allegories qfRe ading wasa lontgi mei nt hew ritianngd,t hel its
ofinstituttoiw ohnisc Iha m indebtiesed v elno ngeIbr e.g atno w rite
on Rousseaua ndN ietzscwhiet ht hea ssistaonfac eG uggenheim
Fellowsihni1 p9 6a9n dwro te them ainp arotf t heb ookd urinag
yea'rsl eavfeor m YalUen iversiin1t 9y7 273-,wi th thea ssistaonfc e
a YalSeen iorF aculFteyl lowsshuippp lemenbtyea d gr antfr om the
MerrFiotu ndtaioann da grant-inf-raoimtd h eAm ericaCno uncfiolr
LearnedS ocietiFeisn.a vle rificatwieornecs o mpletiend1 97w8i th
theh elopf a travgerla nftr omt heG riswoFludn da tY aleI.wi sh to
thantkh en umeroucso lleaguwehso sseu ppohretl pemde ins ecuring
thiasi dAs. form y intelleicntdueablt ednIef sesei,ln deeudn ablteo
enumerawthea ti sb eyond numbearn dt od isentanignsl oem ,a ny
casetsh,ep arotf i nfluefrnocme t hep arotf f riendship.
Partosft hibso okh avaep peareidn p ritnbe foreT.h es ectioonn
Prouswta so riginalal cyo ntributtoi oFna es tschrfoirftGe o rgse
Pouleetn titMloedu vemeprnemtsier s( Paris:CJoorste1i 9,7 2a)n dt he
Rilkec haptwears w rittaesna ni ntdruocotnit ot heF rencehd itioofn
Rilke'psoe ms (PariEsd:i tiodnus Se uil1,9 72O)t.h ecrh apters ap­
pearde entiyr oerli np aritn C ritiIcnaqlu Diiacryr,i ticsT,h e Georgia
PREFACE
Review, Glyhp,S tudiesi nRo manticism,a ndY aleFrenc h StudiesP.e r­
missino tor epriinsgt r atefualclknyo wledgeIdh .a vem yseltfr ans­
lated the two sectioornisgi nawrlliyt teinnF rench.
Iw isht ot hankE lleGnr ahama ndS heiHluad dlesotfot nh eY ale
Univesriyt Presfso rp articuleaffircliye natn ds peedcyo pydeiting,
certani toc leantsheefi naltex to fa lmli stakbeustm y own.
Allt ranslatoifFo rnesn cahn dGe rman quotatiaornems y own
unleostsh erwisei ndiecda.t
P.d.M .
New HavenA,p ri1l97 9

Part I
Rhetoric