Ordinary Oblivion and the Self Unmoored

Reading Plato’s Phaedrus and Writing the Soul

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Ancient & Classical, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book Ordinary Oblivion and the Self Unmoored by Jennifer R. Rapp, Fordham University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jennifer R. Rapp ISBN: 9780823257454
Publisher: Fordham University Press Publication: March 3, 2014
Imprint: Fordham University Press Language: English
Author: Jennifer R. Rapp
ISBN: 9780823257454
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Publication: March 3, 2014
Imprint: Fordham University Press
Language: English

Rapp begins with a question posed by the poet Theodore Roethke: “Should we say that the self, once perceived, becomes a soul?” Through her examination of Plato’s Phaedrus and her insights about the place of forgetting in a life, Rapp answers Roethke’s query with a resounding Yes. In so doing, Rapp reimagines the Phaedrus, interprets anew Plato’s relevance to contemporary life, and offers an innovative account of forgetting as a fertile fragility constitutive of humanity.

Drawing upon poetry and comparisons with other ancient Greek and Daoist texts, Rapp brings to light overlooked features of the Phaedrus, disrupts longstanding interpretations of Plato as the facile champion of memory, and offers new lines of sight onto (and from) his corpus. Her attention to the Phaedrus and her meditative apprehension of the permeable character of human life leave our understanding of both Plato and forgetting inescapably altered. Unsettle everything you think you know about Plato, suspend the twentieth-century entreaty to “Never forget,” and behold here a new mode of critical reflection in which textual study and humanistic inquiry commingle to expansive effect.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Rapp begins with a question posed by the poet Theodore Roethke: “Should we say that the self, once perceived, becomes a soul?” Through her examination of Plato’s Phaedrus and her insights about the place of forgetting in a life, Rapp answers Roethke’s query with a resounding Yes. In so doing, Rapp reimagines the Phaedrus, interprets anew Plato’s relevance to contemporary life, and offers an innovative account of forgetting as a fertile fragility constitutive of humanity.

Drawing upon poetry and comparisons with other ancient Greek and Daoist texts, Rapp brings to light overlooked features of the Phaedrus, disrupts longstanding interpretations of Plato as the facile champion of memory, and offers new lines of sight onto (and from) his corpus. Her attention to the Phaedrus and her meditative apprehension of the permeable character of human life leave our understanding of both Plato and forgetting inescapably altered. Unsettle everything you think you know about Plato, suspend the twentieth-century entreaty to “Never forget,” and behold here a new mode of critical reflection in which textual study and humanistic inquiry commingle to expansive effect.

More books from Fordham University Press

Cover of the book King Alfonso VIII of Castile by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Persistent Forms by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Being-in-Creation by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Confidentiality and Its Discontents by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Ambiguity and the Absolute by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Misfit Forms by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Iterations of Loss by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Death and Other Penalties by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Poetics of Emptiness by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Dante and the Dynamics of Textual Exchange by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Cathedrals of Bone by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Imagine No Religion by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Postcards from Rio by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Trauma and Transcendence by Jennifer R. Rapp
Cover of the book Reified Life by Jennifer R. Rapp
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy