Author: J. Mays File Type: pdf Coleridge has been perceived as the youthful author of a few brilliant poems. Coleridges Experimental Poetics argues that his poetry is actually a continuous process of experimentation and provides a new perspective on both familiar and unfamiliar poems, as well as the relation between Coleridges poetry and philosophical thinking. Taking into account the 300 new poems published in 2001, this is the first complete poetic analysis of Coleridges work.

Author: Joel Kovel File Type: pdf

Author: Zhores A. Medvedev File Type: pdf Giving the best and most informative explanation to date of the mystery of Stalins death, renowned historians Roy and Zhores Medvedev have written a gripping new biography of Joseph Stalin, based on findings from research into archives only recently made available, as well as the Medvedev brothers own experiences during and after Stalins brutal regime. Conventional beliefs and cliches are contradicted and disproved, inaccuracies and misconceptions are corrected, and the facts about Stalins intellect, ancestry, and the fortunes of his personal effects after his death are fully examined. Perhaps most remarkable of all are the Medvedevs revelations and contentions concerning Stalins death There has been much suspicion over whether he was assassinated or died of natural causes, and the authors go a long way toward resolving this question. The Unknown Stalin resonates with particular intensity due to the personal detail and recollections of the two authorseach of whom has his own history as a Russian dissident and commentator. This startling new work represents one of the most significant contributions to the study of Russian history in decades, a book of vital interest to scholars and general readers.

Author: Claude Cernuschi File Type: pdf As a major member of the New York School, Barnett Newman is celebrated for his radical explorations of color and scale and, as a precursor to the Minimalist movement, for his significant contribution to the development of twentieth-century American art. But if his reputation and place in history have grown progressively more secure, the work he produced remains highly resistant to interpretation. His paintings are rigorously abstract, and his writings full of references to arcane metaphysical concepts. Frustrated over their inability to reconcile the works with what the artist said about them, some critics have dismissed the paintings as impenetrable. The art historian Yve-Alain Bois called Newman the most difficult artist he could name, and the philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard declared that there is almost nothing to consume [in his work], or if there is, I do not know what it is. In order to advance interpretation, this book investigates both Newmans writings and paintings in light of ideas articulated by one of Germanys most important and influential philosophers Martin Heidegger. Many of the themes explored in Newmans statements, and echoed in the titles of his paintings, betray numerous points of intersection with Heideggers philosophy the question of origins, the distinctiveness of human presence, a persons sense of place, the sensation of terror, the definition of freedom, the importance of mood to existence, the particularities of art and language, the impact of technology on modern life, the meaning of time, and the human beings relationship to others and to the divine. When examined in the context of Heideggerian thought, these issues acquire greater concreteness, and, in turn, their relation to the artists paintings becomes clearer. It is the contention of this book that, at the intersection of art history and philosophy, an interdisciplinary framework emerges wherein the artists broader motivations and the specific meanings of his paintings prove more amenable to elucidation. **Review Viewers who have acknowledged the demands that Newmans art places on them cannot fail, when they become readers of this book, to appreciate Claude Cernuschis accomplishment in philosophically interpreting the artists works and ideas. Reaching beyond the disciplinary boundaries of art history narrowly construed, Cernuschi provides a rewarding assessment of the Heideggerian resonance of Newmans thought, and ultimately clears a path to a greater understanding of the meaning and significance of his art. (Michael Schreyach, Trinity University) With the scrupulous attention to detail and brisk writing style that characterizes Claude Cernuschis work, his new study probes intriguing correspondences between Martin Heideggers articulation of philosophical principles and Barnett Newmans articulation of aesthetic experience. Cernuschi demonstrates that the two thinkers shared numerous concepts and metaphors. To follow him through the maze of his investigation is to observe philosophy becoming aesthetics and aesthetics becoming philosophy. This fascinating convergence may well have pleased both Heidegger and Newman. (Richard Shiff, Professor, The University of Texas at Austin) About the Author Claude Cernuschi is professor of art history at Boston College.