Description
Book SynopsisEnea Bianchi provides the first in-depth introduction to the pioneering thought of 20th-century Italian philosopher, Mario Perniola. Examining Perniola's entire oeuvre, this book also pushes his philosophy into new directions by investigating the connection between his aesthetics and the philosophical underpinnings of dandyism. Rich in influences, from ancient Stoicism to Roman ritualism, Baroque literature and avant-garde revolutionary movements, Perniola's philosophy is wide-ranging. This book highlights and explores numerous notions pivotal to understanding Perniola's thought, including: the sex appeal of the inorganic, the enigma, strategic beauty and the artistic shadow. Combining these concepts with three exemplar dandies George Brummell, Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde Bianchi demonstrates not only the close relationship between their principles and Perniola's aesthetics, but their shared, and timely, opposition to the status quo. A dandy philosophy emerges, which cha
Trade ReviewThe Philosophy of Mario Perniola is a long overdue, conceptually rich and insightful introduction into the protean work of Mario Perniola, one of the most significant and distinctive voices in contemporary Italian philosophical and aesthetic thought. * Erik Vogt, Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College, USA *
Work on Mario Perniola is especially timely and this book does a lot more than merely fill a gap. This is a monograph with a difference as novel comparisons with phenomena not directly related to Perniola’s canon of reference drive multiple transversal resonances with Continental Philosophy, Cultural Studies, New Materialism and Ecocriticism. A deeply fascinating book. * Federica G. Pedriali, Professor of Literary, Metatheory and Modern Italian Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK *
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Abbreviations of Perniola’s Works Introduction
Part 1 1. The Suicide of Literature 2. To Love or Smash Images? The Dimension of the Simulacrum 3. Action at the End of Action: Rituals without Myths 4. George Bryan Brummell: The Ritual Clothing
Part 2 5. What Is It Like to Be a Thing? 6. A Queering Agency: Perniola’s
The Sex Appeal of the Inorganic 7. Beauty is Like a Blade: Towards a Strategic Theory of Aesthetics 8. Charles Baudelaire: Greatness without Convictions
Part 3 9. The Artistic Alienation and the Situationist International 10. A Shadow and Its Art 11. Oscar Wilde: the In-Between Dandy Conclusion
Notes References Index
