Death-Drive: Freudian Hauntings in Literature and Art

by Robert Rowland Smith

Robert Rowland Smith takes Freud's work on the death-drive and compares it with other philosophies of death - Pascal, Heidegger and Derrida in particular. He also applies it in a new way to literature and art - to Shakespeare, Rothko and Katharina Fritsch, among others. He asks whether artworks are dead or alive, if artistic creativity isn't actually a form of destruction, and whether our ability to be seduced by fine words means we don't put our selves at risk of death. In doing so, he proposes a new theory of aesthetics in which artworks and literary texts have a death-drive of their own, not least by their defining ability to turn away from all that is real, and where the effects of the death-drive mean that we are constantly living in imaginary, rhetorical or 'artistic' worlds. The book also provides a valuable introduction to the rich tradition of work on the death-drive since Freud.Key Features* Includes a general introduction to the death-drive* Presents an original theory of aesthetics* Analyses both theoretical and clinical psychoanalysis* Offers in-depth treatment of Freud* Provides an overview of philosophies of death

Genres: Philosophy

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2010

About the author

Robert Rowland Smith was for seven years a Prize Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford and is a consultant, lecturer and writer on philosophy, literature and psychoanalysis. He has written for The Independent and The Evening Standard, been profiled in The Sunday Telegraph, Time Out and The Observer, and contributed to books on philosophy for children. As well as broadcasting for BBC Radio and television, he has contributed to the Philosophy Bites podcast series and currently has a column on everyday dilemmas in the Sunday Times Magazine.

Smith has taught in the UK, France, Norway, and California; he was invited by the British Council to undertake a European lecture tour, and was closely involved with the Oxford Amnesty Lectures.

Smith is a faculty member at The School of Life, where he runs a breakfast Club, teaches courses on Love and Family and practices constellations. He is a founding editor of the award-winning journal, Angelaki, to which he has contributed articles and sits both on the editorial board and that of its associated book series, Angelaki Humanities.

In conjunction with his literary ventures, Smith is also an independent management consultant. He specializes on issues of strategy and change with boards and senior teams as well as coaching chief executives.

Reviews

[عماد العتيلي · Rating 4 out of 5]

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This book was of a great benefit for me! It gave me a broader idea on Freud’s theory about the death drive and explained it using a wide spectrum of literary works.
I enjoyed it!

[miniminihilism · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excessively wordy & dry, crippled style (written like a course paper profuse with Latin phrases) mar Robert Rowland Smith's poignant concepts & thought.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books that helped me with my thesis research, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it? I found it really interesting and made me want to read more relevant works.