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Document Details :

Title: Hebben we eigenlijk nog wel iets aan poëzie?
Subtitle: Hölderlins erfenis gewogen door Lacoue-Labarthe en Badiou
Author(s): VAN ROODEN, Aukje
Journal: Spiegel der Letteren
Volume: 53    Issue: 1   Date: 2011   
Pages: 61-79
DOI: 10.2143/SDL.53.1.2071217

Abstract :
Although poetry once played an important role in shaping the community, the present day situation seems to call for another use of its powers. This, at least, is the shared assumption underlying an important discussion between Alain Badiou and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe. In their dispute, both hark back to Hölderlin’s work and its decisive role in today’s thought on poetry. Strikingly though, their interpretations of Hölderlin’s key role diverge widely, since Badiou bases himself on Martin Heidegger’s interpretation of Hölderlin’s poetry, whereas Lacoue-Labarthe joins that of Walter Benjamin. Badiou believes that the poetry of Hölderlin is one of the main reasons why contemporary thought has to free itself of the ‘Age of the poets’; Lacoue-Labarthe, on the other hand, argues that Hölderlin’s poetry provides important new insights in the social relevance of poetry.

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