Otherwise than Being John Malkovich: Incarnating the Name of God
In Being John Malkovich, the human struggle for recognition and self-consciousness leads to destruction, emptiness, and ultimately solitude. By contrast, Elijah, the chimpanzee, finds his freedom and healing in being for the other. This discovery lets one reconsider the relationship between language...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2004
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| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2004, Volume: 18, Issue: 1, Pages: 95-108 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In Being John Malkovich, the human struggle for recognition and self-consciousness leads to destruction, emptiness, and ultimately solitude. By contrast, Elijah, the chimpanzee, finds his freedom and healing in being for the other. This discovery lets one reconsider the relationship between language, embodiment, and responsibility in Emmanuel Levinas' work. As speech and language disclose the infinitude of responsibility—its unfolding within finite sensibility and embodiment—Elijah's actions help untie the enigmatic knot in Levinas' philosophy regarding language and animality, responsibly reading the body of his texts in an attempt to unite ethics and truth. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/18.1.95 |