The Reprieve: Weak Messianism and the Event in Primo Levi’s Moments of Reprieve
In this article, I analyse Primo Levi’s work on Auschwitz, in particular his Moments of Reprieve. Against the overdetermined inhuman economy of the camp, I find that ‘the reprieve’ is what philosopher John D. Caputo has described as an Event, a stirring prompted by a call from alterity. Because it d...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2011
|
| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2011, Volume: 25, Issue: 2, Pages: 172-184 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article, I analyse Primo Levi’s work on Auschwitz, in particular his Moments of Reprieve. Against the overdetermined inhuman economy of the camp, I find that ‘the reprieve’ is what philosopher John D. Caputo has described as an Event, a stirring prompted by a call from alterity. Because it does not redeem or provide salvation, the reprieve is a weak form of messianism, suspending but not cancelling the camp. Because every other Other remains ultimately incomprehensible, I argue that even in the most repressive of the circumstances there remains the possibility of the reprieve. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frq044 |