
Edward Said and Jacques Derrida
Reconstellating Humanism and the Global Hybrid
Nina Morgan(Author)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published on 15. October 2008
Book
Hardback
350 pages
978-1-84718-616-4 (ISBN)
Description
Edward Said and Jacques Derrida: Reconstellating Humanism and the Global Hybrid features essays that invoke Said and Derrida's intellectually rigorous examination of humanism in their works; yet by shifting Said and Derrida out of their contexts-by dis-engaging them from their respective habitats of postcolonial studies and deconstruction-and by placing them in each other's company, the collection reconstellates those traces of their works that open the question of ethics, criticism, and the political in order to reconsider the status of the human subject in the global moment.These fourteen interdisciplinary essays by leading international scholars address present social change and political questions and analyze humanism from the perspectives of literature, theory, history, gender studies, and art in view of the intellectual impact of Said and Derrida on contemporary philosophy. In rethinking the question of humanism, these essays pursue the analysis of pivotal concepts that are theoretically and politically imperative in the global age such as the 'human subject', 'hybridity', 'community', 'philology', 'secularism', 'planetary humanism', 'ethical antihumanism', 'inhabitancy', 'exceptionalism', 'utopia', and others.
Reviews / Votes
'Edward Said and Jacques Derrida: Reconstellating Humanism and the Global Hybrid, a surprising conjunction of essays on two of the most relevant theorists in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, is a must-read for any literary critic and academic who wishes to make sense of the current crises that infect both the humanities and global societies. The editors, in a brilliantly conceived move, have drawn together across national and intellectual borders some of the most provocative scholars who read multiplying divergent critical discourses-humanism, globalism, democracy, secularism-to produce luminous new thinking on these central figures and the problems their works illuminate.'-Professor Shirley Geok-lin Lim, University of California, Santa Barbara'Bringing together Said and Derrida, whose recent deaths have laid waste the intellectual landscape, is an excellent thing to do. This book examines the role of humanism in a post-humanist world, and from a global not just western perspective. The contributions, especially those by Spanos, Radhakrishnan, and the editors themselves, are truly outstanding, but the level of quality of the entire volume is head and shoulders above the usual collection of critical essays. This is a timely and important book, and it will be cited often in the future by those interested in the topic.'-Professor Daniel T. O'Hara, Temple University'Back to basics and with the integrity of a relentless probe, this work conducts a double soliloquy, poignant and persuasive, between Said and Derrida. Outsiders with inside knowledge-and who impacted us in ways we are still sorting out-they continue to light the way as the world tries to clear significant hurdles due to metaphysical error and the hubristic pummeling of humanism. A wonderful aggregate of essays written by top-notch and responsible scholars.'-Professor Avital Ronell, New York UniversityMore details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 212 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84718-616-4 (9781847186164)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr. Mina Karavanta (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) teaches theory, cultural studies and anglophone literatures in the Faculty of English Studies, Department of Literature and Culture. Some of her recent essays have appeared in mosaic, The Journal of Contemporary Thought, and European Journal of English Studies, and collection of essays such as Global Babel: Questions of Discourse and Communication in a Time of Globalization, Samir Dayal and Margueritte Murphy (eds.), and Women Writing Greece: Essays on Hellenism, Orientalism and Travel, Vassiliki Kolokotroni and Efterpi Mitsi (eds.). Dr. Nina Morgan (Kennesaw State University) teaches critical theory and world literatures. Her work has been published in Japan, India, Spain and the USA. Dr. Morgan currently serves as an editor of the Journal of Transnational American Studies. Together with Dr. Karavanta, she is writing a book on Jacques Derrida and the political quest of the Literary, entitled, Derridean Antigones: Deconstruction, the Literary and the Question of the Political.