The Poet as Thinker

Survey of reception of German poet Hölderlin in French criticism and literature, with particular attention to Heidegger and his followers.

The Poet as Thinker is the first historical survey of the reception of the work of the German poet Hölderlin (1770-1840) in French criticism and literature. After a brief description of the fate of the poet's work in Germany, from the neglect of the nineteenth century to his rediscovery at the beginning of the twentieth, Professor Lernout deals with the French translations of Hölderlin's poetry and the importance of his writings in French philosophy. He analyses the readings by Martin Heidegger, then goes on to examine the critics whom Heidegger influenced including Beda Allemann; Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy, who have made Hölderlin one of the central figuresin the history of metaphysics; and Georg Lukács. Other chapters consider various psychoanalytical theories of Hölderlin's illness, most of them in the wake of Lacan's interpretation of Freud; Derrida and Foucault are among the critics treated. Finally, the connections between Hölderlin and such prominent twentieth-century French writers as Camus, Aragon, Pleynet, and Delmas are discussed.