The figure of the road: deconstructive studies in humanities disciplines

289 Pages·2007·7.626 MB·English

by  Morris, Christopher D

Praise for Previously Published Works by Christopher D. Morris

Models of Misrepresentation
“Sensitive, intelligent, relentless, and, in fact, not short of brilliant
as a sustained exercise in painstaking deconstruction.”
Modern Fiction Studies

“Immensely valuable to a reader of Doctorow.”
Modern Language Studies

The Hanging Figure
“I have read this book with great intellectual exhilaration. It is a
wonderfully original book. Appropriating scrupulously and rigorously
for new uses the work of Jacques Derrida and Paul de Man, [The
Hanging Figure is] a major work of scholarship, criticism, and theory.”
J. Hillis Miller,
University of California, Irvine

The Figure of the Road
PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Christopher D. Morris

The Figure of the Road

Deconstructive Studies
in Humanities Disciplines

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Christopher D.
The figure of the road: deconstructive studies
in humanities disciplines / Christopher D. Morris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Humanities—Study and teaching (Higher). 2. Humanities—Philosophy.
3. Deconstruction. 4. Roads in literature. 5. Symbolism in literature.
6. American literature—History and criticism. 7. Roads in art.
8. Symbolism in art. 9. Universities and colleges—Curricula.
10. Ethics—Study and teaching (Higher). I. Title.
AZ182.M67 001.3071’1—dc22 2006022458
ISBN-13: 978-0-8204-8857-7
ISBN-10: 0-8204-8857-8

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/.

Front cover image by Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn back cover image provided
by Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

“The Gates” © 2005 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude,
photograph by Wolfgang Volz

Cover design by Lisa Barfield

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2007 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in Germany
For J. Hillis Miller

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: No Untrodden Paths 1

1. American Literature 16

2. Linear Tropes in de Man and Derrida 86

3. Deconstruction and Theology: Hodos in
The Acts of the Apostles 111

4. Four Roads in Taoism 133

5. The Reflexivity of the Road Film 147

6. Televised Baseball, Graphic Novel, Video Game 171

7. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates:
The Figural Road as University 183

Conclusion: Curriculum and Ethics in a Figural World 197

Notes 217

Index 271