
The Solid Letter
Readings of Friedrich Holderlin
Aris Fioretos(Editor)
Stanford University Press
Published on 1. January 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
536 pages
978-0-8047-2943-7 (ISBN)
Description
Written in the context of a rejuvenated interest in the work of Friedrich Holderlin (1770-1843), the essays gathered in The Solid Letter offer the first consolidated attempt in English to set out the many facets of his oeuvre. Addressed not only to specialists in German studies but also to readers interested in modern poetry, philosophy, and aesthetics, the volume is wide in scope but succinct in nature, aiming to assert the relevance of Holderlin for thinking about history, culture, and language today. The Solid Letter not only reads Holderlin's finished work, but also treats the processual character of his writing. By discussing interrelationships among unpublished variants, theoretical and poetic texts, and different conceptions of the distinction between theory and practice, the essays provide an opportunity to reassess the categories by which humanistic study presently is defined. The volume addresses the implications of Holderlin's notion of history, the stakes involved in certain of his key concepts, and the significance of seemingly auxiliary materials and kinds of texts not commonly considered intrinsic to an author's oeuvre (such as translations and letters).
The essays are attuned to the complex resonances of Holderlin's writerly practice, thereby contributing to our grasp of the political and historiographical implications of reading. The volume concludes with a select bibliography of Holderlin in English that lists all book-length translations of his literary writings, the more significant translations of his theoretical texts and letters, and most critical studies available in English devoted in part or whole to Holderlin.
The essays are attuned to the complex resonances of Holderlin's writerly practice, thereby contributing to our grasp of the political and historiographical implications of reading. The volume concludes with a select bibliography of Holderlin in English that lists all book-length translations of his literary writings, the more significant translations of his theoretical texts and letters, and most critical studies available in English devoted in part or whole to Holderlin.
Reviews / Votes
"[The Solid Letter] should bring new readers to Holderlin, and they will be helped by the best bibliography available of translations and criticism in English." -- MLRMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
9 half-tones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
720 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-2943-7 (9780804729437)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Aris Fioretos is Senior Researcher in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Stockholm. Among his books are a translation into Swedish of Holderlin's "patriotic hymns" and The Gray Book (Stanford, 1999).
Content
Sources and abbreviations; Introduction Aris Fioretos; Part I: 1. Measure for measure: Holderlin and the place of philosophy Peter Fenves; 2. The calculation of the poet Jean-Luc Nancy; 3. Poetry's courage Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe; 4. 'Winke': divine topoi in Holderlin, Heidegger, Nancy Hent de Vries; 5. Holderlin's christ Jean-Francois Courtine; 6. Epistolary writing, fate, language: Holderlin's 'hyperion' Edgar Pankow; Part II: 7. Figures of duality: Holderlin and Greek tragedy Arnaud Villani; 8. Monstrous history: Heidegger reading Holderlin Andrzej Warminski; 9. Disowning contingences in Holderlin's 'empedocles' Stanley Corngold; 10. Reading the 'poetics' after the 'rermarks' Christopher Fynsk; 11. Ancient sports and modern transports: Holderlin's tragic bodies Rainer Naggele; 12. Color read: Holderlin and translation Aris Fioretos; Part III: 13. The philosophy of poetic form: Holderlin's theory of poetry and teh classical German elegy Cyrus Hamlin; 14. 'Brod und Wein': from the 'classical' final version to the later revision Bernhard Boschenstein; 15. Turns and echoes: two examples of Holderlin's poetics Arne Melberg; 16. Holderlin's marginalization of language Hans-Jost Frey; 17. The highest Thomas Schestag; Notes; Holderlin in English: a bibliography; Index of names.