Literature, Philosophy, Nihilism The Uncanniest of Guests
This book charts the history of the concept of nihilism in some of the most important philosophers and literary theorists of the modern and postmodern periods, including Heidegger, Adorno, Blanchot, Derrida, and Vattimo. Weller offers the first in-de
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Also by Shane Weller BECKETT, LITERATURE, AND THE ETHICS OF ALTERITY A TASTE FOR THE NEGATIVE: Beckett and Nihilism
Literature, Philosophy, Nihilism The Uncanniest of Guests Shane Weller
© Shane Weller 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-55154-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-36244-8 DOI 10.1057/9780230583528
ISBN 978-0-230-58352-8 (eBook)
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weller, Shane. Literature, philosophy, nihilism: the uncanniest of guests/Shane Weller. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Nihilism (Philosophy)—History. 2. Literatures—Philosophy— History. I. Title. b828.3 W435 2008 149’.8—dc22 2008016425 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
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Contents Preface
ix
Introduction: What’s in a Name?
1
1
2
3
4
Absolute Devaluation: Friedrich Nietzsche
11
The time of nihilism Art, or the ‘superior counterforce’ The transfiguration of nihilism The aesthetic/ascetic turntable
11 21 27 31
Homelessness: Martin Heidegger
35
‘Real nihilism’: Germany, 1933–5 From forgetting to ‘radical killing’ Abandonment and default Total demobilization Poetry and the becoming homely of a people Who are you? – the question of the poet’s friend
35 41 44 46 49 58
Fatal Positivities: Theodor Adorno
63
Life after Auschwitz, or the blasphemy of affirmation Art: the ‘ever broken promise of happiness’ The ‘protocol sentence’: Hölderlin and the birth of modern literature The difference within the nega
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