Stanley Corngold Livres

Much recent critical theory has dismissed or failed to take seriously the question of the self. French theorists--such as Derrida, Barthes, Benveniste, Foucault, Lacan, and Lévi-Strauss--have in various ways proclaimed the death of the subject, often turning to German intellectual tradition to authorize their views. Stanley Corngold's heralded book, The Fate of the Self, published for the first time in paperback with a spirited new preface, appears at a time when the relationship between the self and literature is a matter of renewed concern. Originally published in 1986 (Columbia University Press), the book examines the poetic self of German intellectual tradition in light of recent French and American critical theory. Focusing on seven major German writers--Hölderlin, Dilthey, Nietzsche, Mann, Kafka, Freud, and Heidegger--Corngold shows that their work does not support the desire to discredit the self as an origin of meaning and value but reconstructs the allegedly fragmented poetic self through effects of position and style. Offering new and subtle models of selfhood, The Fate of the Self is a source of rich insight into the work of these authors, refracted through poststructuralist critical perspectives.

"It is widely acknowledged that Kafka's daytime occupation as a specialist in industrial accident insurance contributed in a significant way to his fiction. Corngold and Wagner frame Kafka's writings as cultural events, each work reflecting the economic and cultural discourses of his epoch. In pursuing Kafka's avowed interest in the theory and practice of insurance, the authors view the two systems of his literary worlds--the official and the personal--as a "bundling" together of the various cultural accidents of Kafka's time. The work of two of the leading scholars of the single most influential writer of literary modernity, Franz Kafka: The Ghosts in the Machine constitutes a breathtakingly original advance in the study of both the more famous and less well-known works of this enigmatic master."--From publisher description.

The narrative explores Franz Kafka's transformative experience on September 22, 1912, when he wrote "The Judgment," which he viewed as a pivotal moment in his literary journey. This creation symbolizes his quest for meaning and fulfillment, mirrored in the struggles of his characters as they seek the Law, a sense of belonging, and artistic expression. The story reflects Kafka's deep yearning to recapture the ecstasy of that singular night of inspiration.

"In the years 1938-1941, Princeton was home to an extraordinary constellation of émigré intellectuals-including a particular quartet of thinkers: the novelists Thomas Mann and Hermann Broch, Albert Einstein, and perhaps the least well known of the group, a professor and polymath at the Institute for Advanced Study, Eric Kahler. This book aims to tell the story of their intimate artistic, political, and intellectual activity during the years of Mann's residence in Princeton as a Professor of Humanities at Princeton. The group, who met one another often, mainly at the house of Kahler or Mann, was termed by Charles Greenleaf Bell, a young poet and ardent disciple of Kahler, the "Kahler-Circle." They were fiercely productive scholars. During Mann's residence, he finished his "Goethe-novel" Lotte in Weimar; composed a surrealistic Indian novella The Transposed Heads; and resumed work on the last novel in his epic tetralogy Joseph and His Brothers. He read aloud from these works, while they were in progress, to Kahler and Broch. Kahler in turn discussed his political essays with Mann and was a deeply engaged critic of Mann's fiction; and Mann relied on Kahler, a polymathic intellectual historian and his closest friend, for his political sagacity. Broch, too, read sections of his epic novel The Death of Vergil aloud to Mann and Kahler, his host. Einstein, for all the likeness of his political views with Mann's, preferred the company of Kahler and Broch to that of Mann, whom he termed "an oppressive schoolmaster." To his friends, Einstein was an inspiration, both for his thought and his material support: he also lent Kahler the money to buy the celebrated house at One Evelyn Place and accommodated the impoverished Broch as a house sitter. Kahler at the time was writing what likely be his most widely known book, Man the Measure, which was published two years late in 1943 and for which Einstein wrote the foreword. Corngold aims to tell the story of the story of the intertwined lives and minds of these four great thinkers during their overlapping residence in Princeton during a time of both political and cultural crisis. and culturally pivotal period. He will draw on rich sources for their interactions: Mann's diaries from 1938-1941, foremost, as well as edited volumes of the correspondence of Mann and Kahler, Mann and Broch, and Kahler and Broch. Until now there is no single book that encompasses the precarious but perfervid intellectual life of them all. Corngold will be measuring the extent to which their personal exchanges affected their writings and their political activity"-- Provided by publisher

Lorsque Gregor Samsa s'éveille, un matin, après des rêves agités, il est bel et bien métamorphosé. Doté d'une épaisse carapace d'où s'échappent de pitoyables petites pattes ! Lugubre cocasserie ? Hélas, ultime défense contre ceux qui, certes, ne sont pas des monstres mais de vulgaires parasites... Les siens. Père, mère, soeur, dont l'ambition est de l'éliminer après avoir contribué à l'étouffer. Ici, un homme se transforme en coléoptère monstrueux, là, un engin pervers tue avec application... Dans la colonie pénitentiaire, c'est l'expérimentation en direct. Une machine infernale s'acharne sur un soldat soumis. Une machinerie hors pair, digne d'un inventeur à l'imagination torturée ! Kalka, maître de l'humour noir, de l'absurde et du grotesque, un auteur à redécouvrir !

Exploring Thomas Mann's intellectual and political evolution, this work delves into his experiences during his exile in the United States. It highlights the significant changes in his thoughts and beliefs as he navigated the complexities of his new environment, providing insight into the impact of his surroundings on his literary and philosophical outlook. The book offers a compelling analysis of how Mann's time in America shaped his identity and work during a pivotal period in history.

The Sufferings of Young Werther is a classic tale of youthful angst and tragic obsessive love, reflecting themes of unrequited love and despair. Stanley Corngold's new translation captures Goethe's original passion while maintaining modern elegance, making this influential 1774 novel resonate with contemporary readers.

"The first complete account of the ideas and writings of a major figure in twentieth-century intellectual life. Walter Kaufmann (1921-1980) was a charismatic philosopher, critic, translator, and poet who fled Nazi Germany at the age of eighteen, emigrating alone to the United States. He was astonishingly prolific until his untimely death at age fifty-nine, writing some dozen major books, all marked by breathtaking erudition and a provocative essayistic style. He single-handedly rehabilitated Nietzsche's reputation after World War II and was enormously influential in introducing postwar American readers to existentialism. Until now, no book has examined his intellectual legacy. Stanley Corngold provides the first in-depth study of Kaufmann's thought, covering all his major works. He shows how Kaufmann speaks to many issues that concern us today, such as the good of philosophy, the effects of religion, the persistence of tragedy, and the crisis of the humanities in an age of technology. Few scholars in modern times can match Kaufmann's range of interests, from philosophy and literature to intellectual history and comparative religion, from psychology and photography to art and architecture. Corngold provides a heartfelt portrait of a man who, to an extraordinary extent, transfigured his personal experience in the pages of his books. This original study, both appreciative and critical, is the definitive intellectual life of one of the twentieth century's most engaging yet neglected thinkers. It will introduce Kaufmann to a new generation of readers and serves as a fitting tribute to a scholar's incomparable libido sciendi, or lust for knowledge."-- Provided by publisher

Franz Kafka's literary career began in the first decade of the twentieth century and produced some of the most fascinating and influential works in all of modern European literature. Now, a hundred years later, the concerns of a new century call for a look at the challenges facing Kafka scholarship in the decades ahead: What more can we hope to learn about the context in which Kafka wrote? How does understanding that context affect how we read his stories? What are the consequences of new critical editions that offer unprecedented access to Kafka's works in manuscript form? How does our view of Kafka change the priorities and fashions of literary scholarship? What elements in Kafka's fiction will find resonance in the historical context of a new millennium? How do we compose a coherent account of a personality with so many contradictory aspects? All these questions and more are addressed by the essays in this volume, written by a group of leading international Kafka scholars. Contributors: Peter Beicken, Iris Bruce, Jacob Burnett, Uta Degner, Doreen Densky, Katja Garloff, Rolf Goebel, Mark Harman, Robert Lemon, Roland Reu, Ritchie Robertson, Walter Sokel, John Zilcosky, Saskia Ziolkowski. Stanley Corngold is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at Princeton University. Ruth V. Gross is Professor of German and Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at North Carolina State University.