Love, Desire and Transcendence in French Literature : Deciphering Eros (Hardcover)

Contents: Author's note on translation of quoted material; Introduction. First Series: Origins, Recognitions: Plato's Symposium: the transcending enigma of Eros; Nuptial splendour: the song of songs; Shadow upon splendour: Genesis, transgression and the West. Second Series: Love as Cultural Construct: Mappings: Eros and Agape; Love in French literary tradition: the Troubadours to Rousseau; The crisis of Eros and the 'death of God'. Third Series: Deconstructing Romantic Transcendence: Mappings: Eros under suspicion; Marcel Proust: the idolatries of Eros; Paul Valery: Eros unveiled and the re-imagining of love; Paul Claudel: transgression and promise. Fourth Series: The Immanent Beyond: Mappings: libido liberated and love sublime; Andre Breton's starry castle; Georges Bataille: the erotic abyss; Marguerite Duras: the haunting. Fifth Series: The Postmodern Symposium: Mappings: Eros 'post-everything'; Roland Barthes: amorous discourse and its subject; Luce Irigaray: lifting the curse of Genesis. Sixth Series: Agape Remembered?: Mappings: 'post-Christian' memory of Agape; Pierre Emmanuel: 'car enfin je vous aime!'; Julia Kristeva: re-telling the love story. Conclusion: remembering the past, negotiating the future; Select bibliography; Index.