Autonomy, Universality and Singularity: Bourdieu, Attridge, and Hermans

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Abstract

What is the ethical value of autonomous literary fiction? Doesn’t
literary autonomy lead inevitably to a powerless l’art pour l’art position? In this
article we approach these questions through a discussion of Bourdieu’s ideas on
the autonomy of the literary field, and we map his shifting position over the years.
We argue that Bourdieu’s concept of autonomy may fruitfully be connected with
the notion of singularity of Derek Attridge. To conclude, we illustrate the power of
this singularity through the concrete literary example of the ‘autonomous’ author
Willem Frederik Hermans.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-46
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Dutch Literature
Volume6
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • autonomy
  • singularity
  • ethics
  • W.F. Hermans

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