Description
Book SynopsisModernism and Coherence is an attempt to develop a negative aesthetics conceived as determinate resistance of artworks against the meaning assigned to them by criticism. From the accumulation of arguments on great texts of modernism, the book describes gestures of refusal that generate figures of negativity: Adorno’s
Aesthetic Theory becomes a whirlpool revolving around a center refusing predication; Wallace Stevens’ poetry exhibits a phonetic escape valve against the pressure of reality; Robert Frost writes a poem that is ahead of you in both senses of the expression; and James Joyce’s
Ulysses reads its readers in waves of self-folding. This book is an effort to salvage literature as something in itself in a world that increasingly can only see what is for the other.
Trade Review«‘Modernism and Coherence’ is an impressive performance which coordinates a close analysis of poetic texts with the philosophical dimensions of modern theory; the book will place its author in the forefront of younger scholars in the area of modernity.» (Fredric Jameson, Duke University)
«(...) Durão's book (...) introduces a scholar with considerable theoretical chops and a genuine appreciation of literary aesthetics. Those interested in rigorously philosophical approaches to the study of literature as an aesthetic and political practice should take heed.» (Jeffrey Atteberry, Philosophy in Review)
«Durão's book is remarkable in several respects, not least of which are its literary qualities. Few dissertations, or books based on dissertations, as this one is, are as enjoyable to read as Modernism and Coherence.» (Jonathan Dettman, Marx & Philosophy Society 2010)
«"(...) vor allem besticht Durãos Buch in seiner eigenen Praxis, dem Lesen und Interpretieren von Texten. Selten werden insbesondere lyrische Dichtungen einer solch genauen Lektüre unterzogen, ohne dass die Interpretation zum ästhetischen Selbstzweck oder zur Konturierung vorgefasster theoretischer Konzepte wird. (...) Und das Beste daran: Es macht Freude, diese Analysen zu lesen.» (Isabel Kranz, IASL online)
Table of ContentsContents: Negative aesthetics – Negative poetics – Theory – Close reading – Frankfurt School – Anglo-American modernism – Capitalism.
