The writings of the great Symbolist poet StEphane MallarmE (1842-1898) were to become uniquely influential in twentieth century literary criticism. For critics and philosophers such as Maurice Blanchot and Jacques Derrida, MallarmE's name came to represent a rupture in literary history, and an opening of literature onto a radically new kind of writing. Through close readings of key works, Norman retraces MallarmE's trajectory as a poet, showing in particular how he positioned his work in relation to Hegel's Aesthetics. Analysing the motif of the sunset Norman argues that MallarmE situated his...

The philosophy of Gilbert Simondon has reinvigorated contemporary thinking about biological and technological beings. In this book, Jean-Hugues Barthelemy takes up Simondon's thought and shows how life and technology are connected by a transversal theme: individuation. In the first essay, Barthelemy delivers a contemporary interpretation of Simondon's concept of ontogenesis against the backdrop of biology and cybernetics. In the second essay, he extends his reflections to propose a non-anthropological understanding of technology, and so sets up a confrontation with the work of Martin...