From the Periphery of the World and at the End of Time. The Action of Literature According to Blanchot
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/isegoria.2025.72.1525Keywords:
Blanchot, literature, language, actionAbstract
In this article I attempt a detailed reading of “La littérature et le droit à la mort”, an early writing by Blanchot that constitutes a privileged reference when it comes to understanding his approach to literature. To do so, I recapitulate the debates that permeate the French post-war period, from which I collect as a guiding thread for the analysis the link between action and negation. Through an examination of the nature of language, its modalization in literature and a debate with the Hegelian notion of infinity, the hypothesis I maintain is that Blanchot carries a certain “power of negation” to its last moments until it is out of control leading to a “denial of the present”.
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