Allegories of Reading: Figural Language in Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Proust

317 Pages·1979·9.83 MB·English

by  Paul De Man

AllegoorfRei aedsj ng

AllegorieosfR eadign
FiguraLla nguage
inRo usseNaiue,t zRsiclkhaneed,, Pr oust
Paul de Man
NewH aveann dL ondon
YaleU niverPrseistys
1979
Publishwietdh a ssistfarnoctmeh eKin gsylTrus et As­
sociatiPounb licaFutnido ens tabliby sthheScedr olaln d
Key Societyo fY alCeo llege.
Copyright© 197b9y Y alUen iverAsliriltyg .h trses erved.
Thibsoo km ayn otbe reproducienwd h,o loeri np art,
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Library of Cngresos CatalogiinnPug b licDaattiao n
DeM anP,a ul.
Allegoroifree asd ing.
Incluidnedse x.
1.F renlciht eraturea-nHdic srtiotryi cism.
2.Ro usseauJ,e ajna cqu1e7s1,2 -1778--Style.
3.Ge rmanl iterature-aHnidsc troiryt icism.
4.F igureso fs peech5.. Al legoryI..T itle.
PQ145.D45 809 79-64075
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Pascal

Contents
Preface ix
PartI Rhetoric
1.S emiolaongyd Rh etoric 3
2.T rope(sR ilke) 20
3.Re adin(gP roust) 57
4.Ge nesiasn dGe nealo(gyN ietzsche) 79
5.R hetoorfiT cr ope(sN ietzsche) 130
6.Rh etoorfiP ce rsuas(iNoine tzsche)1 19
PartII Rousseau
7.M etaph(oSer coDndis cosu)er 135
8.S el(fPygma lion) 160
9.A llegUoryu l)ie 188
10.A llegoofryR eadi(ngPrf esosioden f oi) 221
11P.r omis(Soecs iaClon tract) 246
12Ex.c use(sC onfesiosns) 278
303
Index

Preface
ALLEGORIES OF READING STARTED OUT AS A HISTORICAL
studayn de ndeudp a sa theooryf r eadiInb ge.g atnor eaRodu sseau
seriouisnpl rye paraftoirao hni storriecflaelc toinoRo nm anticism
andf ounmdy selufn ablteop rogresbsey ondl ocadli fficultoife s
interpretIantt ryiinogtn o.c opwiet ht hiIsh ,a dt os hifftr ohmi stori­
cald efinittioot nh ep roblematoifrc esa diTnhgi.ss h iftw,h icihs
typiaclo fm y generatiisoo fnm ,o rei nterienis ttrs e sutlhtasin n i ts
causeIstc. o ulidn,p rincilpelaetd,o a rhetoorfir ce adirnega ching
beyondt hcea nonipcrailn ciopfllietse rhairys twohryi csht islelrv ei,n
thibso oka,st hes tartpoiinngto ft heoiwnr displaceTmheenp tri.n ­
cipluensd erlyitnhget hematdiicv erosfiRo tyu sseatuh,ec hronology
ofRi lkea ndN ietzstchheer ,h etoorfiP cr ousatr,en otl efti ntabcyt
ther eadibnugt,t his critical rdeespnuedletn otnr t ehmeia niintsi al
positoifot nh esveery principWhleetsh.e ra furthsetre pw,h ich
woullde atvhei hse rmenemuotdiecbl e hincda,nbe takesnh ounlodt
ap riori orn aiveblety a kefno grra nted.
InP arItI o,n Ro usseaIuh ,a ve attetmhpeet leadb oration and
theu ndoionfga systeomft ropolotgriacnaslf ormiantt ihoefn osr m
ofa sustaianregudm entP.a rIt e stablias shiemsi lpaart teirnan
moref ragmenwtaeydb ym ovinbge tweesne veraault horrast her
thasnt ayiwintgh ians ingcloerp usT.h ec hoiocfeP rouasntdo fRilke
ase xampliesps a rtdluyet oc hancbeu,ts intcheoe stenspiabtlheoo fs
thetiorn aen dd eptohft hesitra temmeanktet hemp articurleasrilsy­
tanttoa r eaditnhgai tsn ol ongeenrt irtehleym atoincec, o uladr gue
thaitft heiworr ky ieltdoss u cahr hetorisccahle mteh,es amew ould
necessabreti lruyef orwr iterwsh osreh etorsitcraalt eagriele ess s
hiddenb ehintdh es eductpiovew erosfi dentification.
What emergiessa proceosfsr eadiinngw hicrhh etoirsia c
dirusptivien tertwinionftg r opaen dp ersuasoiro-nw hicihsn ot
quitteh esa me thing-coofg nitainvdpe e rformative Tlhaen guage.
implciatioonfts h icso ncluasrein oonte astyou nfolndo,rc ant heyb e
statedi ns ummaryf ashisoenp,a raftreodtm h ei ntricoafcs ipeecsi fic
readingNse.v ertheolpepsosn,e ontfss u cahn a pproachha vbee en
moree agetroa ttawchka tt heya ssumteob ei tisd eological motives
ix
PREFACE
rathtehran t het echnicaolfii titpesrs oced ure. Thiiss p articulartlruye
with regardt ot het erm" decotnrusctio"nw ,hichha sr apidlbeyc ome
a labeals w elals a targeMto.st oft hibsoo k waswr ittebne froe
"deconstrucbetciaomne"a bone ofc onetntioann,dt het emr isu sde
herien a technicraalt htehra na polmeicasle nse-whicdhoe s not
implyt haittt h erefboerceo mense utroaril d eologiicnanlocleyn Btu.t
Isa w nor easotnod eleitteN. o o thewro rds tatseose conomictahlel y
imposs ibilittyoe valuaptoes itivoerln ye gativetlhyei nescapable
evaluatiitio mnp lieSso.m ethiinsgl oswth ent hes amep rocesiss
describbyea d p urenleyga tive taeswr hme,n N ietzsscpeaksh e ofthe
destruc(tiZertrioin mmerungo)fc oncteupaclo nstruocrtP sa scalo f
thed emolit(iodenmo litioofna ) c onvtiicotnh aits i tseallfr eady a
destructIic oonn.s ciocuasmleya crsos" deconstrucftoirto hnefi" r ts
timei nt hewr itingso fJ acqueDse rridaw,h ichm eanst hati ti s
associawtietdah p oweorf inventirvieg otrow hicIhl anyo c laibmu t
whicIhc ertaidnoln yo twi sh toe rasDee.c onstrucatsiw aosne ,a sily
predictahbalsbe e,e nm uchm isrepresednitsemdi,s assead h armlse s
academgiacm e ord enouncaesda terrorwiesatp ona,n dI h avea ll
thef eweirl lusiaobnosut th ep ossibiolfci otyu ntertihnegsa eb erra­
tionssi ncseu cahn e xpectatwioounl gdo a gaintshted rioftf m y own
readings.
Allegories qf Readingw asa lontgi mien t hew ritianngd,t hel its
ofinstituttoiw ohnisc Iha m indebtiesed v elno ngeIbr e.g atno w rite
on Rousseaaun dN ietzscwihthe thea ssistaonfca e G uggenheim
Fellowsihni1 p9 6a9n dwro te them ainp arotf t heb ookd urinag
yea'rsl eavfeor m YalUen iversiin1t 9y 72-wi7t3h t,h ea ssistaonfc e
a YalSeen iorF aculFteyl lowsshuippp lemenbtyea d gr antfr om the
MerrFiotu ndtaioann da grant-inf-raoimtd h eAm ericaCno uncfiolr
LearnedS ocietiFeisn.a vle rificatwieornecs o mpletiend1 97w8i th
theh elopf a travgerla nftr omt heG riswoFludn da tY aleI.wi sh to
thantkh en umeroucso lleaguwehso sseu ppohretl pemde ins ecuring
thiasi dAs. form y intelleicntdueablt ednIef sesei,ln deeudn ablteo
enumerawthea ti sb eyondn umber andt od isentanignsl oem ,a ny
casetsh,ep atro fi nfluefrnocme t hep arotf f riendship.
Partosft hibso okh avaep peareidn p ritnbe foreT.h es ectioonn
Prouswta so riginalal cyo ntributtoia o Fn estschrfiorftGe o rgse
Pouleetn titMloeud vemeprnemtsier s( Paris:Cjoorste1i 9, 7a2n)dt he
Rilkec haptwears w rittaesna ni ntdruociton tot heF rencehd itioofn
Rilek'psoe ms (PariEsd:i tiodnus Se uil1,9 72O)th.e crh apters ap­
pearde entiyr oerli np aritn C ritiIcnaqlu Diiacryr,i ticsT,h e Georgia