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Death-Drive: Freudian Hauntings in Literature and Art

By (author) Robert Rowland Smith

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normal price: R 709.95

Price: R 673.95


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Robert Rowland Smith takes Freud's work on the death-drive and compares it with other philosophies of death - Pascal, Heidegger and Derrida in particular. He also applies it in a new way to literature and art - to Shakespeare, Rothko and Katharina Fritsch, among others. He asks whether artworks are dead or alive, if artistic creativity isn't actually a form of destruction, and whether our ability to be seduced by fine words means we don't put our selves at risk of death. In doing so, he proposes a new theory of aesthetics in which artworks and literary texts have a death-drive of their own, not least by their defining ability to turn away from all that is real, and where the effects of the death-drive mean that we are constantly living in imaginary, rhetorical or 'artistic' worlds. The book also provides a valuable introduction to the rich tradition of work on the death-drive since Freud.Key Features* Includes a general introduction to the death-drive* Presents an original theory of aesthetics* Analyses both theoretical and clinical psychoanalysis* Offers in-depth treatment of Freud* Provides an overview of philosophies of death

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Normally shipped | Usually dispatched in 3 to 6 weeks as supplier is out of stock
Publisher | Edinburgh University Press
Published date | 31 Jul 2026
Language | English
Format | Paperback / softback
Pages | 256
Dimensions | 234 x 156 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 0g
ISBN | 978-1-3995-6727-5
Readership Age |
BISAC | philosophy / aesthetics


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Normally shipped | Forthcoming. We are not accepting backorders for this item yet
Readership Age |
Normal Price | R 1 050.95
Price | R 997.95 | on special |



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