KHALIP, Jacques, Anonymous Life. Romanticism and Dispossession, Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 2009, 248 p.
ISBN 9780804758406
RÉSUMÉ
Romanticismis often synonymous with models of identity and action that privilegeindividual empowerment and emotional autonomy. In the last two decades,these models have been the focus of critiques of Romanticism'spurported self-absorption and alienation from politics. While suchcritiques have proven useful, they often draw attention to theconceptual or material tensions of romantic subjectivity whileaccepting a conspicuous, autonomous subject as a given, thus failing toappreciate the possibility that Romanticism sustains an alternativemodel of being, one anonymous and dispossessed, one whose authority isirreducible to that of an easily recognizable, psychologized persona.In Anonymous Life, Khalip goes against the grain of thesedominant critical stances by examining anonymity as a model of beingthat is provocative for writers of the era because it resists theEnlightenment emphasis on transparency and self-disclosure. He exploreshow romantic subjectivity, even as it negotiates with others in thesocial sphere, frequently rejects the demands of self-assertion andfails to prove its authenticity and coherence.
BIOGRAPHIE
Jacques Khalip is Assistant Professor of English at Brown University.