A voice from the past, I know. But I thought you might all like to know what has been keeping me busy ...
Also, I recall that I often had to say, in response to your queries about Malraux, that I could not give an adequate reply in a post to the list - and thus I sometimes found myself being gently accused of being "evasive". This book (blurb below) gave me the opportunity to say all I needed to say about his theory of art (or most of it anyway). As the blurb suggests, it has its controversial aspects... Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm ------------------------------------------------- Dear all, The following is a new publication which might interest you. At the moment it is offered with 30% discount until December 15th*. More information at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Art and the Human Adventure Andri Malrauxs Theory of Art Derek Allan Amsterdam/New York, NY 2009. 340 pp. (Faux Titre 341) ISBN: 978-90-420-2749-7 Paper ISBN: 978-90-420-2750-3 E-Book Online info: <http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?BookId=FAUX+341> Andri Malraux was a major figure in French intellectual life in the twentieth century. A key component of his thought is his theory of art which presents a series of fundamental challenges to traditional explanations of the nature and purpose of art developed by post-Enlightenment aesthetics. For Malraux, art - whether visual art, literature or music - is much more than a locus of beauty or a source of aesthetic pleasure; it is one of the ways humanity defends itself against its fundamental sense of meaninglessness - one of the ways the human adventure is affirmed. Here for the first time is a comprehensive, step by step exposition, supported by illustrations, of Malrauxs theory of art as presented in major works such as The Voices of Silence and The Metamorphosis of the Gods. Suitable for both newcomers to Malraux and more advanced students, the study also examines critical responses to these works by figures such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Maurice Blanchot, Pierre Bourdieu, and E. H. Gombrich, and compares Malrauxs thinking with aspects of contemporary Anglo-American aesthetics. The study reveals that an account of art which Gombrich once dismissed as sophisticated double-talk is in reality a thoroughly coherent and highly enlightening system of thought, with revolutionary implications for the way we think about art. *Please note that this offer is not valid in combination with any other offer
