
Post-Exceptionalism
Art After Political Theology
Arne De Boever(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Will be published approx. on 31. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-1-3995-3970-8 (ISBN)
Description
Postmodernism has come and gone, but the belief that artists and works of art are exceptional is alive and well. Post-Exceptionalism speculates that this is so because postmodernism, when it declared the death of the author and celebrated the copy, failed to name political theology as its fundamental target. In a time when sovereignty is experiencing a dubious global revival, the moment has come to reconsider the artist and the work of art after political theology in search for a new, worldly, and emancipatory politics of aesthetics.
Reviews / Votes
Arne De Boever has distinguished himself for a staccato stream of evocative, thought-provoking, and eminently readable books that are connected by an unmistakably personal style of addressing contemporary problems in our stark reality. Looking back, this oeuvre forms a singular mosaic of critique and inspiration, and Post-Exceptionalism is its precious new gem. -- Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-3970-8 (9781399539708)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Arne De Boever teaches American Studies in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews, and translations, as well as several books on contemporary comparative fiction and political and aesthetic philosophy. His books include Against Aesthetic Exceptionalism (2019), Plastic Sovereignties: Agamben and the Politics of Aesthetics (2016), Francois Jullien's Unexceptional Thought (2020), and Being Vulnerable (2023).
Author
Director of the MA Aesthetics and Politics programSchool of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Post-Exceptionalism and Its Politics
Part I. The Vandal
1. Damage Art
2. The Copy's Blow
Part II. The Forger
3. Post-Exceptional Fakes
4. Turning Toward Landscape
Part III. The Sage
5. Post-Exceptionalism as Political Formalism
6. From Duplitectures to Dafen
Conclusion: Variations on Post-Exceptional Art
Coda: The End of Art (Once Again)
Introduction: Post-Exceptionalism and Its Politics
Part I. The Vandal
1. Damage Art
2. The Copy's Blow
Part II. The Forger
3. Post-Exceptional Fakes
4. Turning Toward Landscape
Part III. The Sage
5. Post-Exceptionalism as Political Formalism
6. From Duplitectures to Dafen
Conclusion: Variations on Post-Exceptional Art
Coda: The End of Art (Once Again)