I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography
The literary genre of autobiography dates back to the 18th century, when philosophy became a type of anthropology, archives and case histories strengthened the grasp of discourse over life, and modern authorship and hermeneutics led to new modes of reading and writing. Nietzsche and so-called French...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Groningen Press
2015-03-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Life Writing |
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| Online Access: | https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31447 |
| _version_ | 1818294372089724928 |
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| author | Dennis Schep |
| author_facet | Dennis Schep |
| author_sort | Dennis Schep |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The literary genre of autobiography dates back to the 18th century, when philosophy became a type of anthropology, archives and case histories strengthened the grasp of discourse over life, and modern authorship and hermeneutics led to new modes of reading and writing. Nietzsche and so-called French theory have put significant strain on this constellation in their shared critique of language, subjectivity and authorship – a critique that makes traditional autobiography all but impossible. Needless to say, this has stopped neither Nietzsche nor a number of postmodern theorists from writing their own autobiographical texts. Interestingly, blindness is a recurring figure in many of these texts; and in this article, I argue that this figure allows us to trace the generic upheaval generated by the problematization of the discursive constellation that fostered modern autobiographical writing. By means of a brief introduction into the history of optics and a close reading of Nietzsche's Ecce Homo and Cixous' 'Savoir,' I show that the malfunctioning eye is one of the figures employed to deinstitutionalize both the philosophical and the autobiographical tradition, allowing us to grasp what became of autobiography after philosophy pronounced the death of man, the subject, and the author. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:30:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53c5865383b34043a31a1fe2d4ce6029 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2211-243X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:30:42Z |
| publishDate | 2015-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Groningen Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Life Writing |
| spelling | doaj.art-53c5865383b34043a31a1fe2d4ce60292022-12-22T00:01:10ZengUniversity of Groningen PressEuropean Journal of Life Writing2211-243X2015-03-014VC17VC3510.5463/ejlw.4.8731447I Problems; Blindness and AutobiographyDennis Schep0Free University Berlin, Humboldt University BerlinThe literary genre of autobiography dates back to the 18th century, when philosophy became a type of anthropology, archives and case histories strengthened the grasp of discourse over life, and modern authorship and hermeneutics led to new modes of reading and writing. Nietzsche and so-called French theory have put significant strain on this constellation in their shared critique of language, subjectivity and authorship – a critique that makes traditional autobiography all but impossible. Needless to say, this has stopped neither Nietzsche nor a number of postmodern theorists from writing their own autobiographical texts. Interestingly, blindness is a recurring figure in many of these texts; and in this article, I argue that this figure allows us to trace the generic upheaval generated by the problematization of the discursive constellation that fostered modern autobiographical writing. By means of a brief introduction into the history of optics and a close reading of Nietzsche's Ecce Homo and Cixous' 'Savoir,' I show that the malfunctioning eye is one of the figures employed to deinstitutionalize both the philosophical and the autobiographical tradition, allowing us to grasp what became of autobiography after philosophy pronounced the death of man, the subject, and the author.https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31447blindnessopticsautobiographynietzschecixous |
| spellingShingle | Dennis Schep I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography European Journal of Life Writing blindness optics autobiography nietzsche cixous |
| title | I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography |
| title_full | I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography |
| title_fullStr | I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography |
| title_full_unstemmed | I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography |
| title_short | I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography |
| title_sort | i problems blindness and autobiography |
| topic | blindness optics autobiography nietzsche cixous |
| url | https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31447 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dennisschep iproblemsblindnessandautobiography |