Description
Book SynopsisSpeech act theory has taught us how to do things with words. Arresting Language turns its attention in the opposite directiontoward the surprising things that language can undo and leave undone. In the eight essays of this volume, arresting language is seen as language at rest, words no longer in service to the project of establishing conventions or instituting legal regimes. Concentrating on both widely known and seldom-read texts from a variety of philosophers, writers, and criticsfrom Leibniz and Mendelssohn, through Kleist and Hebel, to Benjamin and Irigaraythe book analyzes the genesis and structure of interruption, a topic of growing interest to contemporary literary studies, continental philosophy, legal studies, and theological reflection.
Beginning with an exposition of Hölderlin''s rigorous account of interruption in terms of the pure word, in which the event of representation alone appears, Arresting Language identifies critical moments i
Trade Review
"Eight unique essays . . . recommended for lage academic or specialized collections." -- Library Journal
