Understanding Sade, Understanding Modernism
Paul Ardoin editor Professor S E Gontarski editor Dr Laci Mattison editor Dr or Prof James Martell editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:6th Feb '25
£95.00
Supplier delay - available to order, but may take longer than usual.
Explores the enduring impact of Marquis de Sade's philosophy and literature on modernist thinkers and some of modern philosophy's most relevant subjects.
The most current multidisciplinary and multivocal engagement with Sade’s enduring influences on modernism and the philosophical need for continued analysis of his work and the questions it raises.
From Lacan to Dalí, through Simone de Beauvoir, Beckett, Horkheimer, Burroughs, Pasolini, Foucault, Deleuze, up to Žižek, the Marquis de Sade’s influence and impact on modernism and modern thinking is hard to measure. Understanding Sade, Understanding Modernism presents its readers with a chance to reflect on the importance of this radical oeuvre from different perspectives.
Contributors examine Sadean literature and thought through some of its main texts (including 120 Days of Sodom, History of Juliette, The Crimes of Love, and Philosophy in the Boudoir) in a series of comparative essays that not only examine Sade’s influence in French, European, and American thought, but also critique it in the context of some of modern philosophy’s most relevant subjects: ecology, nature, universalism, and the links between ethics and aesthetics.
The final section identifies key concepts and notions within Sade's corpus in a series of entries offering context and a discussion of their relevance for current thought.
Sade’s role in shaping the modernist consciousness is difficult to underestimate. This indispensable collection of essays sheds invaluable light on the myriad of ways in which this most singular of 18th-century thinkers was taken up in the 20th century to articulate modernist perspectives on desire and subjectivity, reason and unreason, transgression and abjection. * Ian James, Professor of Modern French Philosophy and Literature, University of Cambridge, UK *
Rather than focusing on just one aspect of the Marquis de Sade’s influence on European culture, this groundbreaking collection situates his work within the key areas it has shaped: continental philosophy, literary modernism, and modernity itself. Here is a book brimming with new insights and offering a nuanced view of Sade’s huge contribution to contemporary philosophical, literary, and cultural debates. * Ulrika Maude, Professor of Modern Literature, University of Bristol, UK *
ISBN: 9798765109151
Dimensions: 232mm x 158mm x 26mm
Weight: 620g
320 pages