Modern Critical Thought: An Anthology of Theorists Writing on Theorists

Most of the major twentieth–century thinkers develop their thought through critical dialogues with their predecessors. This anthology brings together a selection of these dialogues, offering a fresh approach to modern critical thought from Marx through to the present day.

The essays, lectures and reviews featured in this volume represent thinkers from Lukács and Heidegger to Judith Butler and Slavoj i ek. Often at their most accessible introducing their own key influences and predecessors, these writings therefore provide an ideal way into the traditions of modern critical thought and into their own more difficult writings. As the reader proceeds through the book, the pieces build into a series of overlapping conversations and arguments, spanning different generations and crossing boundaries between French, German and English thought. The book offers an invaluable introduction to traditions of Marxist critical theory, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, post–structuralism and post–modern discourse.

The anthology opens with an introductory essay in which the editor introduces key critical terms and maps out the contested terrain of criticism and critique implicit in the choice of particular works. He also introduces each text with contextualizing notes and suggestions for further reading.

Introduction: Criticism and/or Critique.

1. Lukacs on Marx.

George Lukas, ′The Phenomenon of Reification′.

2. Heidegger on Nietzsche.

Martin Heidegger, ′The Eternal Recurrence of the Same and the Will to Power′.

3. Adorno on Freud.

Theodor Adorno, ′Sociology and Psychology′.

4. Merleau–Ponty on Lukacs.

Maurice Merleau–Ponty, ′"Western" Marxism′.

5. Marcuse on Sartre.

Herbert Marcuse, ′Sartre′s Existentialism′.

6. Levinas on Husserl.

Emmanuel Levinas, ′Reflections on Phenomenological "Technique"′.

7. Gadamer on Heidegger.

Hans–Georg Gadamer, "Heidegger′s Later Philosophy′.

8. Deleuze on Nietzsche and Kant.

Gilles Deleuze, ′Critique′.

9. Althusser on Marx.

Louis Althusser, ′Grom Capital to Marx′s Philosophy′.

10. Derrida on Levi–Strauss.

Jacques Derrida, ′Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences′.

11. Foucault on Derrida.

Michel Foucault, ′My Body, This Paper, This Five′.

12. Habermas on Benjamin.

Jurgen Habermas, "Walter Benjamin: Consciousness–Raising or Rescuing Critique′.

13. Rose on Lacan.

Jacqueline Rose, ′Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne′.

14. Bhabha on Fanon.

Homi Bhabha, ′Interrogating Identity: Frantz Fanon and the Postcolonial Prerogative′.

15. Butler on Kristeva and Foucault.

Judith Butler, Gender Trouble.

16. Zizek on Zizek.

Slavoj Zizek, ′Holding the Place′.

Index.

Drew Milne is the Judith E Wilson Lecturer in Drama and Poetry, University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He is the co–editor, with Terry Eagleton, of Marxist Literary Theory (Blackwell Publishing, 1996) and the editor of the journal Parataxis: modernism and modern writing. He has published numerous essays on critical theory and poetics, including articles on Marxism, Kant, Derrida and Marcuse, along with forthcoming studies of Hegel, Benjamin and Adorno. His other books include Sheet Mettle (1994), Bench Marks (1998), The Damage (2001), Mars Disarmed (2002) and Go Figure (2003). For further information visit: http://drewmilne.tripod.com

" Modern Critical Thought is a unique historical collection of the major voices in critical thinking from Lukács to i ek. Drew Milne has drawn together engagements between thinkers that underscore how critical thought evolves as a series of debates and acts of differentiation. The book is ideal for students wishing to familiarize themselves with some of the crucial debates of the twentieth and twenty–first centuries and to witness how critical thinkers assess and appraise one another. Milne has a keen eye for selecting the most pertinent and exciting materials in the tradition of critical thinking." Michael Ryan, Northeastern University <!––end––>