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    The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism
    The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism
    The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism
    Ebook318 pages7 hours

    The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

    By Geoffrey Galt Harpham

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    About this ebook

    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 humane than those currently available to us.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
    Release dateJan 15, 2011
    ISBN9780226316901
    The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

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