Poet as Thinker

The Poet as Thinker is the first historical survey of the reception of the work of the German poet Holderlin (1770-1840) in French criticism and literature. After a brief description of the fate of the poet's work in Germany, from the neglect of the nineteenth century to his rediscovery at the beginning of the twentieth, Professor Lernout deals with the French translations of Holderlin's poetry and the importance of his writings in French philosophy. He analyses the readings by Martin Heidegger, then goes on to examine the critics whom Heidegger influenced including Beda Allemann; Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy, who have made Holderlin one of the central figures in the history of metaphysics; and Georg Lukacs. Other chapters consider various psychoanalytical theories of Holderlin's illness, most of them in the wake of Lacan's interpretation of Freud; Derrida and Foucault are among the critics treated. Finally, the connections between Holderlin and such prominent twentieth-century French writers as Camus, Aragon, Pleynet, and Delmas are discussed.