Heidegger and the Western Literary Tradition
Heidegger and the Western Literary Tradition.
This panel will investigate the complex relationships between the work of Martin Heidegger and Western literature from the Greeks until the 20th century. Three distinct questions or areas of investigation will be treated:
• How did Heidegger use a specific writer in one or more of his philosophical writings?
• How does Heidegger’s use of a given writer relate to our current understanding of the works and themes of this writer?
• Are there thematic points of contact between Heidegger’s work and literary authors that Heidegger may not have mentioned? Can we point out specific limitations that might result from Heidegger’s philosophical methodology?
Here are some examples of the direction presentations might take for each of the above questions. Presenters should feel free to choose writers and themes not mentioned below, of course.
For the first question, one might analyze Heidegger’s reading of Sophocles’ Antigone in “Introduction to Metaphysics.” There are hundreds of classic and modern writers that one might choose from Heidegger’s works.
Second, how do Heidegger’s various readings of Hölderlin compare to contemporary understanding of the German poet.
Third, one might take a theme from “Being and Time” and show that the theme appears in the works of writers. An example would be Heidegger’s analysis of “Fear/Anxiety” in Being and Time and André Malraux’s treatment of these themes in “La Condition Humaine.”
Are there political implications in Heidegger’s use of “Jünger?”
“Heidegger and the Western Literary Tradition” is sponsored by NeMLA’s director of comparative literature and will be a multi-year offering.
Submissions should be approximately 250 words. Please be specific about the Heideggerian texts you will be examining.
Description
This panel will investigate the complex relationships between the work of Martin Heidegger and Western literature from the Greeks until the 20th century. How did Heidegger use a specific writer in one or more of his philosophical writings? How does Heidegger’s use of a given writer relate to our current understanding of the works and themes of this writer? Can we point out specific limitations that might result from Heidegger’s philosophical methodology?
Please submit directly to the NeMLA URL. For information: rchumaker3@gmail.com