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Michel Leiris

Writing the Self

Seán Hand author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:20th Apr '06

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This is the first full-length study in English of the work of Michel Leiris who is frequently cited as a central figure in contemporary French culture. Seán Hand explores Leiris's participation in some of the most striking intellectual and artistic movements of the twentieth century: surrealism, ethnography and existentialism amongst others.This is the first full-length study in English of Michel Leiris's work. Frequently cited as a central figure in contemporary French culture, Leiris was an outstanding writer whose double career as ethnographer and creative writer places him at important points of intersection within French cultural history. Seán Hand explores Leiris's active participation in some of the most striking intellectual and artistic movements of the twentieth century: surrealism in the twenties, ethnography in the thirties and existentialism in the forties. Hand locates his writing in these different contexts in relation to the major artistic, political and philosophical concepts of the period. He goes on to argue that Leiris's multi-volume autobiography La Règle du jeu stands as the model form of self-enquiry in the twentieth century. More broadly, Hand explores Leiris's continuing obsession with the notion of 'presence'. Informed by recent critical theories, Hand offers a multi disciplinary approach to this intriguing writer.

'This is the first in-depth study in English of Michel Leiris's work, and it offers a well organised and penetrating analysis of all the aspects of this unusual writer.' Modern & Contemporary France

ISBN: 9780521026024

Dimensions: 229mm x 151mm x 15mm

Weight: 408g

276 pages