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5 - The Essay in Theory

from Part I - Forms of the Essay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2022

By
Wittman Kara
Edited by
Kara Wittman  and
Evan Kindley
Kara Wittman
Affiliation:
Pomona College, California
Evan Kindley
Affiliation:
Pomona College, California
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Summary

This chapter engages various philosophical attempts to define and delimit the essay, and to use the form to do a kind of philosophy that became increasingly urgent in the shadow of twentieth-century atrocities. The author considers theories of the essay by Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Walter Pater, and others.

Keywords

Critical TheoryLiterary TheoryPhilosophyFrankfurt SchoolGeorg LukácsTheodor AdornoMax BenseRoland BarthesWalter BenjaminWalter Pater
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to The Essay , pp. 78 - 94
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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