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Decay and Afterlife
Form, Time, and the Textuality of Ruins, 1100 to 1900
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2022
About this book
Covering 800 years of intellectual and literary history, Prica considers the textual forms of ruins.
Western ruins have long been understood as objects riddled with temporal contradictions, whether they appear in baroque poetry and drama, Romanticism’s nostalgic view of history, eighteenth-century paintings of classical subjects, or even recent photographic histories of the ruins of postindustrial Detroit. Decay and Afterlife pivots away from our immediate, visual fascination with ruins, focusing instead on the textuality of ruins in works about disintegration and survival. Combining an impressive array of literary, philosophical, and historiographical works both canonical and neglected, and encompassing Latin, Italian, French, German, and English sources, Aleksandra Prica addresses ruins as textual forms, examining them in their extraordinary geographical and temporal breadth, highlighting their variability and reflexivity, and uncovering new lines of aesthetic and intellectual affinity. Through close readings, she traverses eight hundred years of intellectual and literary history, from Seneca and Petrarch to Hegel, Goethe, and Georg Simmel. She tracks European discourses on ruins as they metamorphose over time, identifying surprising resemblances and resonances, ignored contrasts and tensions, as well as the shared apprehensions and ideas that come to light in the excavation of these discourses.
Western ruins have long been understood as objects riddled with temporal contradictions, whether they appear in baroque poetry and drama, Romanticism’s nostalgic view of history, eighteenth-century paintings of classical subjects, or even recent photographic histories of the ruins of postindustrial Detroit. Decay and Afterlife pivots away from our immediate, visual fascination with ruins, focusing instead on the textuality of ruins in works about disintegration and survival. Combining an impressive array of literary, philosophical, and historiographical works both canonical and neglected, and encompassing Latin, Italian, French, German, and English sources, Aleksandra Prica addresses ruins as textual forms, examining them in their extraordinary geographical and temporal breadth, highlighting their variability and reflexivity, and uncovering new lines of aesthetic and intellectual affinity. Through close readings, she traverses eight hundred years of intellectual and literary history, from Seneca and Petrarch to Hegel, Goethe, and Georg Simmel. She tracks European discourses on ruins as they metamorphose over time, identifying surprising resemblances and resonances, ignored contrasts and tensions, as well as the shared apprehensions and ideas that come to light in the excavation of these discourses.
Author / Editor information
Aleksandra Prica is associate professor of German literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Reviews
“Decay and Afterlife is a brilliant study that offers a veritable contribution to the library on ruins, ruination, debris, and decay. Through a series of deep readings on ruins-related texts from several European literary traditions, Prica makes a case that ruins manifest a textuality that productively troubles chronologies, histories, and meaning making. Ruins, we learn, are double-edged: they both invite and undo efforts to make sense of them.”
— Helmut Puff, University of Michigan“Decay and Afterlife is a highly original book that combines extraordinary historical scope and textual diversity with analytical perspicacity. Prica covers the cultural, literary, and philosophical history of ruins from the high middle ages to the twentieth century, and the advantages of this impressive longitudinal perspective are apparent. Prica’s analyses of the modern theorizations of ruins and time’s passing are characterized by an uncommon historical depth, and her readings of premodern encounters are informed by theoretical sophistication.”
— Christopher Wild, University of ChicagoTopics
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Frontmatter
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Contents
vii -
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Figures
ix -
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Abbreviations
xi -
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Introduction
1 - I Foundations
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1 Among Ruins: Martin Heidegger and Sigmund Freud
29 -
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2 Afterlife: Hans Blumenberg and Walter Benjamin
48 - II The Propitious Moment
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3 Petrarch and the View of Rome
77 -
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4 Poliphilo and the Dream of Ruins
112 - III Living On
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5 Ferdinand Gregorovius, Hildebert of Lavardin, and the Rupture of Continuity
133 -
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6 Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Martin Opitz, and the Overcoming of Vanity
162 - IV The Battleground of Time
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7 Johann Jacob Breitinger, Andreas Gryphius, and the Reconsideration of Allegory
189 -
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8 Thomas Burnet, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and the Realignment of Discourses
207 - V Futures and Ruins
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9 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Georg Simmel, and the Provisionality of Forms
233 -
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Epilogue
258 -
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Acknowledgments
269 -
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Bibliography
273 -
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Index
293
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 15, 2022
eBook ISBN:
9780226811451
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780226811451
Keywords for this book
textuality; text; form; time; ruins; german literature; germany; literary; history; historical context; western society; temporal; disintegration; survival; philosophy; philosophical; historiography; historiographical; latin; italian; french; english; aesthetics; intellectual; european; europe; resemblances; excavation; antiquities; sigmund freud; martin heidegger; hans blumenberg; walter benjamin; petrarch; rome; lucius annaeus seneca; georg wilhelm friedrich hegel; thomas burnet; johann wolfgang von goethe; andreas gryphius
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
