Language:
English
Year of publication:
1989
Titel der Quelle:
Critical Inquiry
Angaben zur Quelle:
15,4 (1989) 704-744
Keywords:
De Man, Paul
;
Antisemitism Philosophy
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
Abstract:
Surveys the historical and biographical context of Paul de Man's wartime experiences in Belgium: his 170 articles written for the collaborationist newspaper "Le Soir", the influence of his uncle Henri de Man, his publication of a collection of resistance poetry in December 1942 at the Agence Dechenne from which he was fired in spring 1943, after which he worked on a translation of "Moby Dick" into Flemish (published in 1945). Draws on the works of Primo Levi, "Moby Dick", the autobiography of Michel Leiris, Rousseau's "Confessions" (on which de Man wrote an important essay), Walter Benjamin's essay on translation (the subject of de Man's last lecture) and his death, to explain de Man's silence regarding the war years. Contends that "de Man's entire work and his later theories bear implicit witness to the Holocaust... as a witness to the very blindness of his own, and others' witness". Contends that he made an error in judgment, and his later life was a constant struggle with historical deception. De Man's silence faces what is both unforgivable and unforgettable.
Description / Table of Contents:
Macdonald, Heather. The Holocaust as text: deconstruction's final solution to the de Man problem. "Salmagundi" 92 (1991) 160-173. A reaction to Felman's article.
Note:
Appeared as "After the apocalypse: Paul de Man and the fall to silence" in her collection of articles "Testimony; Crises of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History" (1992) 120-164.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink
