ABJECTION AND ABANDONMENT: Melancholy in Philosophy and Art

Description

Since the inception of philosophy, the question of melancholy is intimately connected with creativity. Thus, Aristotle could say that creative people – poets and philosophers – are melancholic people. In contemporary discourses, the question of melancholy has once again acquired its decisive importance. No longer tied to the old conception of the genius, and no longer seen as reducible to a psychopathological disorder, melancholy is now seen as the fundamental attunement between us and the world. To think again of this fascinating question of melancholy in the light of contemporary thought is the task that this edited volume undertakes. The contributions are trans-disciplinary in nature, drawing on different disciplines like Psychoanalysis, Cultural Theory, Medical Studies, Sociological Studies and Aesthetic Theories.

Saitya Brata Dasteaches philosophy and literature at the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His recent books areThe Political Theology of Schelling(Edinburgh University Press, 2016) and…And the World Should Be Made a Desert(Aakar books, 2016).