The Dark Gaze: Maurice Blanchot and the Sacred

by Kevin Hart

Maurice Blanchot is among the most important twentieth-century French thinkers. Figures such as Bataille, Deleuze, Derrida, and Levinas all draw deeply on his novels and writings on literature and philosophy. In The Dark Gaze , Kevin Hart argues that Blanchot has given us the most persuasive account of what we must give up—whether it be continuity, selfhood, absolute truth, totality, or unity—if God is, indeed, dead. Looking at Blanchot’s oeuvre as a whole, Hart shows that this erstwhile atheist paradoxically had an abiding fascination with mystical experiences and the notion of the sacred.

The result is not a mere introduction to Blanchot but rather a profound reconsideration of how his work figures theologically in some of the major currents of twentieth-century thought. Hart reveals Blanchot to be a thinker devoted to the possibilities of a spiritual life; an atheist who knew both the Old and New Testaments, especially the Hebrew Bible; and a philosopher keenly interested in the relation between art and religion, the nature of mystical experience, the link between writing and the sacred, and the possibilities of leading an ethical life in the absence of God.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2004

Reviews

[Wanyoung Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6. I read this book close to a postmortem experience and am right now rereading for the sake of absorbing its words

Grasps the extremes of existing in this fine gem of a book

[Tema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hart's study is a well-elaborated and erudite reading of Blanchot's texts. But, unlike such authors as Levinas or Derrida, whose commentaries represent a kind of a meeting with Blanchot's thought, Hart's work is an attempt at approaching him by drawing connections to other thinkers, writers and poets. The author has thorough knowledge of theology, philosophy and literature, but making use of such an impressive arsenal does not guarantee that it will make him able to say anything new or at least to repeat what has been already said by Blanchot.
Without going into details, I can say that this book will be a good reading for theology scholars who want to have a glimpse at the complex issues elaborated outside of, but in a strange proximity to, their field of study. For those who rather feel themselves to be on Blanchot's side, the book would probably be just a serious investigation which does not succeed in shedding light on such an obscure region.

[Saurav Mahajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEST BOOK FOR US ATHEISTS: SO WHAT IF GOD ISN'T THERE, WE STILL ARE...AND WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE OPINE AS CORRECT..