Heidegger in the Literary World: Variations on Poetic Thinking

Within the vast reception history of Martin Heidegger’s philosophical thought poets, novelists, and playwrights have occupied a central place. This collection of essays opens up new perspectives by tracing the manifold, often surprising ways in which Heideggerian concepts, motifs, and concerns have been taken up in literary and poetic writing since the middle of the 20th century. In their contributions, scholars from the Americas, Asia, and Europe explore intellectual constellations between Heidegger and selected literary figures such as John Ashbery, Julia de Burgos, Paul Celan, Elfriede Jelinek, and Velimir Khlebnikov.

The volume unveils the immense creativity that crystallizes in these poetic and literary traces and disseminations of Heidegger’s thinking. Hence, it points to new and fruitful ways to critically intervene in current philosophical and literary debates.