Description: Using Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy's groundbreaking study of the persistence of German Idealist philosophy as his starting point, Justin Clemens presents a valuable study of the links between Romanticism and contemporary theory. The central contention of this book is that contemporary theory is still essentially Romantic - despite all its declarations to the contrary, and despite all its attempts to elude or exceed the limits bequeathed it by Romantic thought. The argument focuses on the ruses of 'Romanticism's indefinable character' under two main rubrics, 'Contexts' and 'Interventions'. The first three chapters investigate 'Contexts', examining some of the broad trends in the historical and institutional development of Romantic criticism; the second section, 'Interventions', comprises close readings of the work of Jacques Lacan, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Ian Hunter and Alain Badiou. This study will be of interest to literary theorists, philosophers, political theorists, and cultural studies scholars.
Review Quotes: 'This title has been dying to be written and the excellence of this book lies in its breathtaking range, insistently interrogative terms of analysis and high theoretical acumen... Clemens's overview is excellent, in its parsing of so many minor and key figures. It clearly defines and documents all of the terms, paradoxes and way stations in this impasse that everybody mentions and for which no-one has offered any extensive or entirely satisfactory thinking through. That he does so with extraordinary reach, philosophical regard and, at times, breathless condensations is deeply impressive... makes for an invaluable reference work as well as a difficult pleasure... this book is a splendid achievement. Its remarkable theoretical conversance and high philosophical reach make it indispensable for anyone with interests in the history of contemporary theory, recent philosophy and Romantic studies, and certainly for anyone who professes to be really working on the boulevards and in the lounges of cultural studies.' Cultural Studies Review