The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy

Négritude, Vitalism, and Modernity

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy by Donna Jones, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Donna Jones ISBN: 9780231518604
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 5, 2010
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Donna Jones
ISBN: 9780231518604
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 5, 2010
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

In the early twentieth century, the life philosophy of Henri Bergson summoned the élan vital, or vital force, as the source of creative evolution. Bergson also appealed to intuition, which focused on experience rather than discursive thought and scientific cognition. Particularly influential for the literary and political Négritude movement of the 1930s, which opposed French colonialism, Bergson's life philosophy formed an appealing alternative to Western modernity, decried as "mechanical," and set the stage for later developments in postcolonial theory and vitalist discourse.

Revisiting narratives on life that were produced in this age of machinery and war, Donna V. Jones shows how Bergson, Nietzsche, and the poets Leopold Senghor and Aimé Césaire fashioned the concept of life into a central aesthetic and metaphysical category while also implicating it in discourses on race and nation. Jones argues that twentieth-century vitalism cannot be understood separately from these racial and anti-Semitic discussions. She also shows that some dominant models of emancipation within black thought become intelligible only when in dialogue with the vitalist tradition. Jones's study strikes at the core of contemporary critical theory, which integrates these older discourses into larger critical frameworks, and she traces the ways in which vitalism continues to draw from and contribute to its making.

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

In the early twentieth century, the life philosophy of Henri Bergson summoned the élan vital, or vital force, as the source of creative evolution. Bergson also appealed to intuition, which focused on experience rather than discursive thought and scientific cognition. Particularly influential for the literary and political Négritude movement of the 1930s, which opposed French colonialism, Bergson's life philosophy formed an appealing alternative to Western modernity, decried as "mechanical," and set the stage for later developments in postcolonial theory and vitalist discourse.

Revisiting narratives on life that were produced in this age of machinery and war, Donna V. Jones shows how Bergson, Nietzsche, and the poets Leopold Senghor and Aimé Césaire fashioned the concept of life into a central aesthetic and metaphysical category while also implicating it in discourses on race and nation. Jones argues that twentieth-century vitalism cannot be understood separately from these racial and anti-Semitic discussions. She also shows that some dominant models of emancipation within black thought become intelligible only when in dialogue with the vitalist tradition. Jones's study strikes at the core of contemporary critical theory, which integrates these older discourses into larger critical frameworks, and she traces the ways in which vitalism continues to draw from and contribute to its making.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Class Clowns by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Friends and Other Strangers by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Sovereignty by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Vaccines and Your Child by Donna Jones
Cover of the book When the Invasion of Land Failed by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Understanding Environmental Policy by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Simone de Beauvoir, Philosophy, and Feminism by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Beyond Individualism by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Philosophies of Happiness by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Writings from the Golden Age of Russian Poetry by Donna Jones
Cover of the book An Outline of a Theory of Civilization by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Banished to the Homeland by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Business, Not Politics by Donna Jones
Cover of the book The Long War by Donna Jones
Cover of the book Technology in Postwar America by Donna Jones
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