The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy: Négritude, Vitalism, and Modernity (New Directions in Critical Theory)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.82 (569 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0231145497 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-12-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Jones also draws on her historical findings to throw critical light on the afterlife of vitalism in the thought of such contemporary theorists as Gilles Deleuze, Antonio Negri, Giorgio Agamben, and Elizabeth Grosz. (Benjamin Noys Radical Philosophy) . This book brings together Donna V. Jones not only examines the influence of Bergson on Senghor, Cesaire, and their disciples, but also the vital connections between life philosophies in the West and the structure of thought from which the expressive strategies of Negritude derive. (Midwest Book Review)This careful study outlines the problems of an uncritical return to Bergson that so many contemporary critics, especially those influenced by Gilles Deleuze, participate in. Jones enriches our understanding of what she perceptively terms 'postmodern vitalism.' This is a remarkable achievement, and Racial D
A superbly presented work of seminal scholarship The newest addition to the outstanding Columbia University Press 'New Directions in Critical Theory' series, "The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy: Negritude, Vitalism, and Modernity" by Donna V. Jones (Assistant Professor of English, University of California - Berkeley) focuses on how the philosophy of Henri Bergson and Nietzsche, and the poetry of Leopold Senghor and Aime Cesaire, worked to shape and influence the idea of human life into an aesthetic and metaphysical concept the included considerations of race and nationhood. Of special note is Professor Jones' incorporation into her informed and informative, 231-page study of the d
Particularly influential for the literary and political Négritude movement of the 1930s, which opposed French colonialism, Bergson's life philosophy formed an appealing alternative to Western modernity, decried as "mechanical," and set the stage for later developments in postcolonial theory and vitalist discourse. She also shows that some dominant models of emancipation within black thought become intelligible only when in dialogue with the vitalist tradition. Revisiting narratives on life that were produced in this age of machinery and war, Donna V. Jones argues that twentieth-century vitalism cannot be understood separately from these racial and anti-Semitic discussions. Bergson also appealed to intuition, which focused on experienc