Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Patrick Greaney’s argument that we might understand history as a sort of utopian subjunctive is provocative and perfectly pitched. This is the kind of book the most ambitious critic aspires to write." —Craig Dworkin, author of
No Medium"In this groundbreaking and provocative study of the practice of quotation at the heart of contemporary conceptual writing and art, Patrick Greaney challenges the view that the use of quotation spells the end of authorship, of the individual voice. On the contrary, he argues, quotation must be understood in its historical function, its questioning of the past’s unrealized possibilities—possibilities for the present and even the future. Laying to rest once and for all the notion that citing the texts of others is little more than inspired plagiarism, Greaney provides a fascinating study of a philosophical practice that he calls, after Foucault, ‘the frugal lyricism of quotation.’" —Marjorie Perloff, author of
Unoriginal Genius: Poetry by Other Means in the New CenturyTable of ContentsContents
Introduction: A History of the Present
1. The Transformation of Authorship2. Insinuation: Détournement and Gender in Guy Debord3. Marcel Broodthaers, an Artist in Quotation Marks4. The Aesthetics of Administration: Heimrad Bäcker's transcript5. Making History: Sharon Hayes, Vanessa Place, and Glenn Ligon
AcknowledgmentsNotesIndex
