Henry Miller: The Inhuman Artist: A Philosophical Inquiry

169 Pages·2013·0.846 MB·English

by  Indrek Manniste

Henry Miller: The Inhuman Artist
ii
Henry Miller: The Inhuman Artist
A Philosophical Inquiry
Indrek Männiste
NEW YORK • LONDON • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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www.bloomsbury.com
First published 2013
© Indrek Männiste, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or
refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-6235-6108-6
ePub: 978-1-6235-6900-6
ePDF: 978-1-6235-6208-3
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
I am of the order whose purpose is not to teach
the world a lesson but to explain
that school is over.
– Henry Miller
vi
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction xi
1 Prelude to a Future Philosophy: Modernist Melancholy,
Dadaist Dances, and Surrealist Songs 1
2 Apocalypse Now: The End of History and the Twofold Present 27
3 The Anxiety of Enframing: Miller, Modern Technology, and Work 51
4 Behold, I Teach You the Inhuman!: Inhuman Artist, Übermensch,
and China 79
5 From Theoria To Praxis: The Poetry of Life 119
Conclusion 137
Bibliography 139
Index 145
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those who helped me to face one of
the most demanding academic, and perhaps also personal, challenges of my life. To
begin with, I would like to thank Haaris Naqvi and Bloomsbury (formerly Continuum)
for providing me this wonderful opportunity to publish a book on the topic that I
have been passionate about for several years. To continue, I thank everybody in the
Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, where I carried out most
of the research that has now evolved into this book. I thank John Bishop and Robert
Wicks particularly for believing in my project and for helping making things happen
administratively. I am immensely grateful to Matheson Russell, my doctoral supervisor
at the time, whose professional input and ever-encouraging attitude helped me to stay
on the course of writing through even the most demanding and uninspiring times. I
am enormously thankful to Jordan Collins, my main pre-publishing consigliere, and
also to Andrew Triggs, David Nickless, Bernadette Waller, Paul McLaughlin, and Veiko
Palge for helping me with numerous editorial and technical tasks in the different stages
of writing this book. I also thank James Decker and Geoffrey Boucher for their helpful
comments and suggestions. On a less academic but equally important note, I cannot
thank enough my friends Tim Erson, Brendan Callies, Claire Mottershead, Danny
Pantoja, and Johan Wielanga who all took me into their homes and hearts while I lived
in New Zealand. In the same vein, for their lasting support, inspiring discussions, and
comforting company, I would like to thank my long-time friends Andreas Ventsel,
Mari-Liis Madisson, Toomas Lott, and Tiina Nuum. Last but not least, I owe debt to
my parents Sirje and Matti Männiste whose unconditional support over all these years
I couldn’t even begin to describe.
Abbreviations
All the works of Henry Miller are cited in this book using the following abbreviations
along with relevant page numbers referring to these particular editions that were
used.
ACN Air-Conditioned Nightmare (New York: New Directions, 1945).
AP “ Artist and Public,” in Remember to Remember (New York: New Directions,
1947).
BIML The Books In My Life (New York: New Directions, 1969).
BS Black Spring (New York: Grove Press, 1963).
BSOHB B ig Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (New York: New Directions,
1957).
CAN T ropic of Cancer (London, New York, Toronto and Sydney: Harper Perennial,
2005).
CAP T ropic of Capricorn (London, New York, Toronto and Sydney: Harper
Perennial, 2005).
CD “ Creative Death,” in The Wisdom of the Heart (London: Editions Poetry
London, 1947).
CHM C onversations with Henry Miller, eds. Frank L. Kersnowski and Alice Hughes
(Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1994).
COM The Colossus of Maroussi (Aylesbury: Penguin Books with William Heinemann
LTD, 1974).
DML A Private Correspondence (with Lawrence Durrell), ed. George Wickes
(London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1963).
HAM Henry Miller’s Hamlet Letters (Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1988).
LE Letters to Emil (New York: New Directions, 1989).
LP A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller 1932–1953
(New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1987).