Blanchot, Maurice(1907–2003)
Maurice Blanchot was first and foremost a literary theorist, and his work included a number of essay collections, among them The Space of Literature (1982), The Boo...
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In both his fiction and criticism Maurice Blanchot, since the 1940s, has figured as one of the great austere voices of French letters. In works that have done more than any others to render in French ...
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Maurice Blanchot has written only infrequently about his life. He has refused to be photographed, interviewed, or seen. This extreme discretion marks a body of writing that has touched everything of i...
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In the following essay, Hartman discusses Blanchot's fiction and critical writings, providing an overview of his literary associations and theoretical principles.
The seriousness, the suffer...
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In the following essay, Gregg examines Blanchot's preoccupation with death, particularly as associated with suicide, literary creation, and the function of autobiography.
Language and human ...
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In the following review, Dickison comments on the themes of The One Who Was Standing Apart from Me.
The mark of Lydia Davis’s translation can be cited right away in the American title for th...
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In the following review, Josipovici praises Blanchot's early works of literary criticism but finds shortcomings in the cryptic assertions of The Work of Fire and The Writing of Disaster.
Whe...
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In the following essay, Fynsk examines the ambiguous nature of language, the function of literature, and the negative dialectic of death expressed in “Literature and the Right to Death.”...
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In the following review, Fowlie comments on the literary and historical significance of the essays in The Work of Fire.
The goals of the new French criticism, in which Maurice Blanchot holds his pl...
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In the following review, Lowenthal summarizes The Most High comparing its narrator to that of Kafka's The Trial.
Despite the wealth of translation of Maurice Blanchot’s work available...
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In the following review, Malin comments on the “terrible beauty” of Blanchot's prose in Awaiting Oblivion.
Blanchot is a terrifying writer [in Awaiting Oblivion]. The action ta...
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In the following essay, Huffer examines the relationship between gender and nostalgia in the rhetorical strategies of The Space of Literature.
The death of the other restores men to each other.
...
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In the following review, Jaron discusses the intersections between literature, politics, and morality in Pour l'amitié and Les Intellectuels en question.
Like Paul Valéry befor...
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In the following essay, Champagne discusses the influence of Judaic thought and biblical paradigms on Blanchot's philosophy of language. In particular, Champagne considers the poststructuralist...
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In the following review, Pindar offers a positive assessment of Awaiting Oblivion and evaluates the critical studies of Blanchot by critics Leslie Hill and Gerald Bruns.
The lengthy trial and recen...
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In the following review, Conley discusses the main themes of Friendship.
In an August 1997 review of Maurice Blanchot’s Friendship in Library Journal (122.13, p. 90), Robert T. Ivey expresse...
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In the following essay, Hess provides an overview of Blanchot's literary career and political involvements, noting the critical obstacles of Blanchot's writings and political commitments...
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In the following essay, Quasha and Stein consider Blanchot's writings in an American context and discuss the difficulty of translating, reading, and interpreting his texts, particularly in ligh...
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In the following review, Hill comments on the historical significance of Blanchot's oeuvre in general, highlighting the implications of the death theme in The Station Hill Blanchot Reader and F...
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In the following review, Morot-Sir outlines Blanchot's literary principles and theoretical perspectives in L'Écriture du désastre.
Blanchot warns his eventual critics an...
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In the following essay, Kendrick discusses some of Blanchot's major themes and theoretical preoccupations in his fiction, the English translations of his writings, his association with other wr...
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In the following review, Roudiez discusses Blanchot's intellectual concerns in La Communauté inavouable.
Georges Bataille had provided an intellectual backdrop for several of Maurice ...
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In the following review, Caplan mentions the contributions of The Writing of Disaster to contemporary French thought.
In the past few years, English translations of many Blanchot texts (both critic...
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In the following essay, Everman provides an analysis of The Madness of the Day, drawing attention to the paradoxical circularity of its premise and elaborations. According to Everman, “Blanchot...
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In the following review, Evenson describes the contents of The Infinite Conversation.
Written during the struggle between Hegelianism and anti-Hegelianism in French thought preceding poststructural...
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Blanchot, Maurice (1907–2003)
Maurice Blanchot
Critical Essay by Geoffrey Hartman
