| The Indian Renouncer and Postmodern Poison: A Cross-Cultural Encounter Contributor(s): Duerlinger, James (Editor), Olson, Carl (Author) |
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ISBN: 0820430226 ISBN-13: 9780820430225 Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi OUR PRICE: $73.10 Product Type: Hardcover Published: September 1997 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Asia - India & South Asia - Foreign Language Study | Miscellaneous - Philosophy | Methodology |
| Dewey: 954 |
| LCCN: 95040652 |
| Series: New Perspectives in Philosophical Scholarship |
| Physical Information: 367 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Hindu |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In his essay on the pharmacy of Plato, Jacques Derrida discusses the ambivalence associated with the notion of "pharmakon" (drug, medicine, or poison) and its ability to either cure or destroy. By allowing the Indian renouncer and selected postmodern thinkers to share the medicine of each party in a cross-cultural exchange of ideas, this work will attempt to cure one's understanding about the several roles played by the renouncer as a stranger, hero figure, androgynous being, and victim of self-sacrificial violence. "The Indian Renouncer and Postmodern Poison" includes a look at the possibility of the renouncer assuming the roles of a masochistic or narcissistic figure. By examining the renouncer's way of life and the variety of roles that he can play, this work demonstrates how the renouncer transforms himself into a symbol of difference. Throughout this study, the theoretical work of selected postmodern thinkers (e.g., Derrida, Kristeva, Levinas, Deleuze, Bataille, Blanchot, and Foucault) are used to raise new questions about the Indian renouncer. |