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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Young, William (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press 2004
In: Literature and theology
Year: 2004, Volume: 18, Issue: 1, Pages: 95-108
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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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.
ISSN:1477-4623
Contains:Enthalten in: Literature and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/litthe/18.1.95