Finite transcendence : existential exile and the myth of home

212 Pages·2014·0.99 MB·English

by  Burr

Finite Transcendence

Finite Transcendence
Existential Exile and the Myth of Home
Steven A. Burr
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Burr,StevenA.,1975-author.
Finitetranscendence:existentialexileandthemythofhome/byStevenA.Burr.
pagescm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-7391-8795-1(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-7391-8796-8(electronic)
1.Existentialisminliterature.2.Exilesinliterature.3.Homeinliterature.4.Exile(Punishment)in
literature.I.Title.
PN56.E77B872014
809'.93384--dc23
2014011806
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
I:TheOntologicalSituation 1
1 Finitude 3
2 ExistentialExile 49
II:BetwixtandBetween 91
3 AbsurdityandExile 93
4 Revoltand[Re-]Union 123
III:Home 159
5 FinitudeandFaith,Exileand[Re-]Union 161
Bibliography 187
Index 193
v

Acknowledgments
Thepresentworkistheresultofseveralyears’researchandwriting,andfar
more time engaging the mood and questions contained herein. Along the
way, many professors, colleagues, and students have helped me to better
understand, focus, and clarify my purpose and the direction this text would
ultimately take. As I completed my doctoral studies at Georgetown Univer-
sity, no one person did more to inspire, encourage, and educate me than
FrancisJ.Ambrosio,AssociateProfessorofPhilosophy;allthatisofvaluein
thisbookisundoubtedlyacredittohimforsparingsomuchofhistimeand
wisdom for me. Likewise, Randall P. Donaldson, Associate Professor of
German and Director of the Graduate Program in Liberal Studies at Loyola
University Maryland, has been an influential force in my life and career for
morethanadecade,andIthankhimforallthathehasdoneforme,firstasa
teacher, then as a mentor, and then as a colleague, but always as a friend.
Special thanks are also due to Phyllis O’Callaghan, Terrence P. Reynolds,
Frederick J. Ruf, John B. Brough, and Anne Ridder, all of Georgetown
University, and Wolfgang W. Fuchs, of Towson University; each played a
significantpartininfluencingandencouragingthepersonIhadtobetowrite
this book. Special thanks are due as well to Jana Hodges-Kluck, Associate
Editor at Lexington Books, her assistant, Natalie Mandziuk, and Christine
Fahey,ProductionEditoratLexingtonBooks;ithasbeenapleasuretowork
with them and everyone else at Lexington. Additionally, the suggestions
offered by an anonymous reviewer were especially helpful, as were discus-
sionswithJohnMarmysz,CollegeofMarin,regardingearlierversionsofthe
workinprogress.Finally,althoughIamprofoundlyindebtedtoeachindivid-
ualnotedaboveandmanyothersstill,it isto my wonderfulwife,Ruth, that
my greatest debt is due: for her unfailing interest, support, encouragement,
vii
viii Acknowledgments
andinspiration;forherdedicationthatsometimesrivaledmyown;and,most
importantly,forhelpingmetoseewhathomereallymeans.
Excerpt from “Little Gidding” from Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot. Copy-
right1942byHoughtonMifflinHarcourtPublishingCompany;Copyright©
renewed 1970 by T.S. Eliot. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved. International copyright
permissiongrantedbyFaber&Faber,Ltd.
ExcerptfromEXILEANDTHEKINGDOMbyAlbertCamusandtrans-
lated by Justin O’Brien, copyright © 1957, 1958 by Alfred A. Knopf, a
divisionofRandomHouseLLC.ExcerptfromLYRICALANDCRITICAL
ESSAYSbyAlbertCamusandtranslatedbyEllenConroyKennedy,transla-
tion copyright © 1967 by Hamish Hamilton Ltd and Alfred A. Knopf, a
divisionofRandomHouseLLC.
Excerpt from THE FALL by Albert Camus and translated by Justin
O’Brien,translationcopyright ©1956byAlfredAKnopfInc.Excerptfrom
THEFIRSTMANbyAlbertCamusandtranslatedbyDavidHapgood,trans-
lation copyright © 1995 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House
LLC.
ExcerptfromTHEMYTHOFSISYPHUSbyAlbertCamusandtranslat-
edbyJustinO’Brien,translationcopyright©1955byAlfredA.Knopf,Inc.,
copyright renewed 1983 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House
LLC.
Excerpt from THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus and translated by Stuart
Gilbert, translation copyright © 1948 by Stuart Gilbert, copyright renewed
1975 by Stuart Gilbert. Excerpt from THE REBEL by Albert Camus and
translated by Anthony Bower, translation copyright © 1956 by Alfred A.
Knopf,adivisionofRandomHouseLLC.
ExcerptfromTHESTRANGER byAlbert Camus andtranslatedbyStu-
art Gilbert, 1946 and renewed 1974 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Ran-
dom House, Inc. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All
rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publica-
tion, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House
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