Adrian May
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786940438
- eISBN:
- 9781789629118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786940438.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter identifies the literary neo-Nietzschean critical ethos that defined the review from its opening issues, whilst also tracing how this ethos shifted in response to changes in the French ...
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This chapter identifies the literary neo-Nietzschean critical ethos that defined the review from its opening issues, whilst also tracing how this ethos shifted in response to changes in the French social and political climate. The review’s progressive emphasis on anti-essentialist and post-foundational thought is contrasted to the return to Enlightenment thought, French values and communicational rationality proposed by Jürgen Habermas and Alain Finkielkraut. In contrast to the more abstract, conceptual emphasis of Derridean deconstruction, the review’s materialist approach to literary writing is demonstrated with particular reference to the works of Jean-Noël Vuarnet and Michel Surya. The review’s early, staunch secularism is then seen to become more tempered after scandals surrounding Islamic headscarves, laïcité, and the terrorist threats made towards Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, Robert Redeker and Charlie Hebdo, as the review refuses to be drawn into outright condemnation of France’s stigmatised Muslim minority. Lastly, the review’s Nietzschean stress on amoral philosophy is seen to be more responsible than nihilistic when placed in the context of shifting social mores, especially regarding changing philosophical perspectives on paedophilia.Less
This chapter identifies the literary neo-Nietzschean critical ethos that defined the review from its opening issues, whilst also tracing how this ethos shifted in response to changes in the French social and political climate. The review’s progressive emphasis on anti-essentialist and post-foundational thought is contrasted to the return to Enlightenment thought, French values and communicational rationality proposed by Jürgen Habermas and Alain Finkielkraut. In contrast to the more abstract, conceptual emphasis of Derridean deconstruction, the review’s materialist approach to literary writing is demonstrated with particular reference to the works of Jean-Noël Vuarnet and Michel Surya. The review’s early, staunch secularism is then seen to become more tempered after scandals surrounding Islamic headscarves, laïcité, and the terrorist threats made towards Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, Robert Redeker and Charlie Hebdo, as the review refuses to be drawn into outright condemnation of France’s stigmatised Muslim minority. Lastly, the review’s Nietzschean stress on amoral philosophy is seen to be more responsible than nihilistic when placed in the context of shifting social mores, especially regarding changing philosophical perspectives on paedophilia.
Iulia Lumina
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781474466837
- eISBN:
- 9781399509237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474466837.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The study of Islam and Muslim societies in Western scholarship often revolves around theoretical and analytical frameworks that either essentialise or reduce Islam and Muslim identities to false ...
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The study of Islam and Muslim societies in Western scholarship often revolves around theoretical and analytical frameworks that either essentialise or reduce Islam and Muslim identities to false dichotomies. Addressing the diversity of Muslim conduct and Islamic practices, scholars have paid particular attention to what constitutes Islam as an analytical category and how to carry out studies of Muslim societies across the many disciplines within the social sciences. Before introducing the chapters and the intersecting themes that draw attention to larger – transnational, regional and global – processes that influence the politics of Muslim identities, this introduction outlines the key conceptual insights that have led to the historical and anti-essentialist study of Islam and Muslim societies in order to better situate identities in their social and political contexts.Less
The study of Islam and Muslim societies in Western scholarship often revolves around theoretical and analytical frameworks that either essentialise or reduce Islam and Muslim identities to false dichotomies. Addressing the diversity of Muslim conduct and Islamic practices, scholars have paid particular attention to what constitutes Islam as an analytical category and how to carry out studies of Muslim societies across the many disciplines within the social sciences. Before introducing the chapters and the intersecting themes that draw attention to larger – transnational, regional and global – processes that influence the politics of Muslim identities, this introduction outlines the key conceptual insights that have led to the historical and anti-essentialist study of Islam and Muslim societies in order to better situate identities in their social and political contexts.
