A01=Robert Rowland Smith
Author_Robert Rowland Smith
Category=ABA
Category=DSA
Category=QDTN
Critical Theory
Cultural Studies
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eq_biography-true-stories
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eq_non-fiction
Literary Studies
Literary Theory
Philosophy
Psychoanalysis
Product details
- ISBN 9780748640393
- Weight: 164g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 30 Apr 2010
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Robert Rowland Smith takes Freud's work on the death-drive and compares it with other philosophies of death - Pascal, Heidegger and Derrida in particular. He also applies it in a new way to literature and art - to Shakespeare, Rothko and Katharina Fritsch, among others. He asks whether artworks are dead or alive, if artistic creativity isn't actually a form of destruction, and whether our ability to be seduced by fine words means we don't put our selves at risk of death. In doing so, he proposes a new theory of aesthetics in which artworks and literary texts have a death-drive of their own, not least by their defining ability to turn away from all that is real, and where the effects of the death-drive mean that we are constantly living in imaginary, rhetorical or 'artistic' worlds. The book also provides a valuable introduction to the rich tradition of work on the death-drive since Freud.Key Features* Includes a general introduction to the death-drive* Presents an original theory of aesthetics* Analyses both theoretical and clinical psychoanalysis* Offers in-depth treatment of Freud* Provides an overview of philosophies of death
A former Prize Fellow of All Souls College, Robert Rowland Smith has written widely on philosophy, psychoanalysis and literature, including Derrida and Autobiography. He is a founding editor of the award-winning journal, Angelaki and an original member of the Forum for European Philosophy. Now independent, he also writes non-fiction that applies philosophy to everyday life. His latest book is Breakfast with Socrates: The Philosophy of Everyday Life (Profile Books, 2009).
