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Michel Leiris: Writing the Self

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Michel Leiris: Writing the Self
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Sean Hand
SeriesCambridge Studies in French
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:276
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 151
Category/GenreLiterary studies - from c 1900 -
ISBN/Barcode 9780521026024
ClassificationsDewey:848.91209
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 4 Halftones, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 20 April 2006
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This is the first full-length study in English of Michel Leiris's work. Frequently cited as a central figure in contemporary French culture, Leiris was an outstanding writer whose double career as ethnographer and creative writer places him at important points of intersection within French cultural history. Sean Hand explores Leiris's active participation in some of the most striking intellectual and artistic movements of the twentieth century: surrealism in the twenties, ethnography in the thirties and existentialism in the forties. Hand locates his writing in these different contexts in relation to the major artistic, political and philosophical concepts of the period. He goes on to argue that Leiris's multi-volume autobiography La Regle du jeu stands as the model form of self-enquiry in the twentieth century. More broadly, Hand explores Leiris's continuing obsession with the notion of 'presence'. Informed by recent critical theories, Hand offers a multi disciplinary approach to this intriguing writer.

Author Biography

Sean Hand is Professor of French and Head of the School of Languages at Oxford Brookes University. He has published on Derrida, psychoanalysis, and contemporary French writing.

Reviews

'This is the first in-depth study in English of Michel Leiris's work, and it offers a well organised and penetrating analysis of all the aspects of this unusual writer.' Modern & Contemporary France