Lamentation and Modernity in Literature, Philosophy, and Culture - by R Saunders (Hardcover)

About the Book

Saunders analyzes the ideological uses of loss in literary, philosophical, and social texts from the late 19th and 20th centuries through the lens of women's lament traditions and includes philosophical texts by Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida;as well asliterary works by William Faulkner, Stephane Mallarme, Dimitris Hatzis, and Tahar Ben Jelloun."

Book Synopsis

Saunders analyzes the ideological uses of loss in literary, philosophical, and social texts from the late 19th and 20th centuries through the lens of women's lament traditions and includes philosophical texts by Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida; and literary works by William Faulkner, Stéphane Mallarmé, Dimitris Hatzis, and Tahar Ben Jelloun.

Review Quotes

Through a series of probing theoretical reflections and incisive close readings, ranging over important texts of both critical theory and literature, Saunders's book explores the haunting role of lamentation in modernity. She sees lamentation as an aesthetic and political form interacting with traumatic loss and traversing various genres, discourses, and rhetorical traditions. Transnational and interdisciplinary in scope, this excellent study offers sustained insight into crucial components of contemporary thought and culture.' - Dominick LaCapra, Cornell University 'This is a scholarly and intellectually ambitious work. Saunders employs a daunting range of theoretical sources to support her convincing argument. A real contribution to the study of lamentation and the literature of modernism.' - Gail Holst-Warhaft, Cornell University JV

About the Author

REBECCA SAUNDERS is Associate Professor in the department of English at Illinois State University, USA.