The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism
In this bold interdisciplinary work, Geoffrey Galt Harpham argues that asceticism has played a major role in shaping Western ideas of the body, writing, ethics, and aesthetics. He suggests that we consider the ascetic as ""the 'cultural' element in culture, "" and presents a close analysis of works by Athanasius, Augustine, Matthias, Grünewald, Nietzsche, Foucault, and other thinkers as proof of the extent of asceticism's resources. Harpham demonstrates the usefulness of his findings by deriving from asceticism a ""discourse of resistance, "" a code of interpretation ultimately more generous and
1 online resource (344 pages)
9781283242233, 9786613242235, 9780226316901, 1283242230, 6613242233, 0226316904
1132162117
Available in another form:
List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; I. The Ideology of Asceticism; II. Discipline and Desire in Augustine's Confessions; III. A Passion of Representation: Grünewald's Isenheim Altar; IV. Philosophy and the Resistance to Asceticism; V. The Ascetics of Interpretation; Notes; Works Cited; Index
English