Fordham University Press Poetics of History: Rousseau and the Theater of Originary Mimesis

Rousseau’s opposition to the theater is well known: But is it possible that Rousseau’s texts reveal a different conception of theatrical imitation? This short but potent text from a powerful European thinker places Rousseau at the origin of modern speculative philosophy by showing that his thinking on the theater articulates a radical thinking of originary mimesis that was to inflect the future of philosophy. Review Now available in Jeff Fort’s impeccable translation, Poetics of History is the culmination of Philippe Lacoue- Labarthe’s lifetime work on the question of mimesis in Rousseau―a question of crucial importance that had never before been posed or answered in this form. Identifying in Rousseau an onto-technology so radical that it challenges his supposed anti-theatricality, Poetics of History redefines both poetics and history even as it offers a new way of understanding the French reception of Heidegger. Author: Andrew Parker, Rutgers University From the Author Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe (Author) Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe (1940–2007) was Professor of Philosophy at the Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg. His many books include Poetry as Experience; Typography; and, with Jean-Luc Nancy, The Literary Absolute. Jeff Fort (Translator) Jeff Fort is Associate Professor of French at the University of California, Davis, and the translator of more than a dozen books, by Jean Genet, Jacques Derrida, Maurice Blanchot, Jean-Luc Nancy, and others. About the Author Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe (1940–2007) was Professor of Philosophy at the Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg. His many books include Poetry as Experience; Typography; and, with Jean-Luc Nancy, The Literary Absolute. Jeff Fort is Associate Professor of French at the University of California, Davis, and the translator of more than a dozen books, by Jean Genet, Jacques Derrida, Maurice Blanchot, Jean-Luc Nancy, and others.