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Crosscurrents: Russia's Literature in Context Ser.: Babel in Russian and Other Literatures and Topographies : The Tower, the State, and the Chaos of Language by Martin Meisel (2019, Hardcover)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherLexington Books/Fortress Academic
ISBN-101498588379
ISBN-139781498588379
eBay Product ID (ePID)22038408969
Product Key Features
Number of Pages168 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NameBabel in Russian and Other Literatures and Topographies : The Tower, the State, and the Chaos of Language
SubjectRussia & the Former Soviet Union, Russian & Former Soviet Union
Publication Year2019
TypeTextbook
AuthorMartin Meisel
Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, History
SeriesCrosscurrents: Russia's Literature in Context Ser.
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.4 in
Item Weight14.1 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
LCCN2019-954017
ReviewsThis book reaches back into a Biblical past--Babel as origin of "linguistic chaos"--with a theoretical panache that illuminates the present. Because Meisel is supremely well versed in areas ranging from visual art and architecture to literature, theater and cinema, he can mine Shakespeare, Moliere, Bruegel, Joyce, Metropolis, and Blade Runner for gems of lucidity.From "mutual incomprehension," Meisel finds--or creates--meaning in a manner that is linguistically playful as well as philosophically profound., 'Chaos is come again!' predicts Othello. Nothing daunted, Martin Meisel plunges directly into the linguistic and intellectual chaos figured by the Tower of Babel in order to make sense of it. Paradoxically, his account is eminently lucid, illuminated by flashes of wit and pyrotechnic displays of erudition. The breadth of coverage extends from drama to architecture, with an equally impressive range of reference. Cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary, this is a masterfully researched, exquisitely written exploration of one of culture'e(tm)s most slippery concepts., [A] richly rewarding pendant volume. . . . Babel in Russian'e(tm)s horizon is modern Russian literature and culture, but its scholarly contribution finally has more to do with the wealth of information it collects and constellates than an argument that begins with Nimrod and ends with A. R. Ammons. The overriding effect of the intricate web of connections Meisel weaves in Babel in Russian is to suggest that the realization of the sublimity the Tower was intended to embody is finally to be found not in the imagined edifice but in its ongoing reception in Western culture., This is a lucid and erudite study of one of the defining myths of western culture. Martin Meisel is a superb guide through the broad and often contradictory implications of the Babel story, and its long history of adaptation and interpretation, culminating in its appearance as a great enabling trope in modernist literature., [A] richly rewarding pendant volume. . . . Babel in Russian's horizon is modern Russian literature and culture, but its scholarly contribution finally has more to do with the wealth of information it collects and constellates than an argument that begins with Nimrod and ends with A. R. Ammons. The overriding effect of the intricate web of connections Meisel weaves in Babel in Russianis to suggest that the realization of the sublimity the Tower was intended to embody is finally to be found not in the imagined edifice but in its ongoing reception in Western culture., Meisel's book should be read by everyone who takes the study of language seriously. Against the background of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, Meisel examines language as an instrument of order and of chaos at the same time.The author's remarkable erudition and analysis extend from Sumerian literature to "Blade Runner," and much in between., Meisel takes the biblical account of the divinely forestalled tower of Babel as his point of departure for a suggestive consideration of the resulting "confusion of tongues" as a figure for chaos itself. Drawing on a dazzling array of texts (religious, philosophical, political, narrative, lyric, dramatic, filmic), the author reveals the extent to which the fraught relationship between chaos and order, design and disarray, richness and ruin, energy and fixity has been framed in terms of language--as the rift between word and world, as the non-correspondence of word and word that results from the dispersal of peoples and the proliferation of cultures, the blighted prospects for understanding and cooperation (let alone the construction of towers), and the longing for recognizable equivalents. The upside to all this divergence and difference is the proposition that what's needed (and possible) is not uniformity but unity, less a matter of being the same than of being in contact. In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy., Meisel takes the biblical account of the divinely forestalled tower of Babel as his point of departure for a suggestive consideration of the resulting "confusion of tongues" as a figure for chaos itself. Drawing on a dazzling array of texts (religious, philosophical, political, narrative, lyric, dramatic, filmic), the author reveals the extent to which the fraught relationship between chaos and order, design and disarray, richness and ruin, energy and fixity has been framed in terms of language--as the rift between word and world, as the non-correspondence of word and word that results from the dispersal of peoples and the proliferation of cultures, the blighted prospects for understanding and cooperation (let alone the construction of towers), and the longing for recognizable equivalents. The upside to all this divergence and difference is the proposition that what's needed (and possible) is not uniformity but unity, less a matter of being the same than of being in contact. In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy.>In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy.>In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy.>In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy., Meisel'e(tm)s book should be read by everyone who takes the study of language seriously. Against the background of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, Meisel examines language as an instrument of order and of chaos at the same time.The author'e(tm)s remarkable erudition and analysis extend from Sumerian literature to 'eoeBlade Runner,'e and much in between., Meisel takes the biblical account of the divinely forestalled tower of Babel as his point of departure for a suggestive consideration of the resulting 'eoeconfusion of tongues'e as a figure for chaos itself. Drawing on a dazzling array of texts (religious, philosophical, political, narrative, lyric, dramatic, filmic), the author reveals the extent to which the fraught relationship between chaos and order, design and disarray, richness and ruin, energy and fixity has been framed in terms of language'e"as the rift between word and world, as the non-correspondence of word and word that results from the dispersal of peoples and the proliferation of cultures, the blighted prospects for understanding and cooperation (let alone the construction of towers), and the longing for recognizable equivalents. The upside to all this divergence and difference is the proposition that what'e(tm)s needed (and possible) is not uniformity but unity, less a matter of being the same than of being in contact.In Meisel'e(tm)s learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy., This book reaches back into a Biblical past--Babel as origin of "linguistic chaos"--with a theoretical panache that illuminates the present. Because Meisel is supremely well versed in areas ranging from visual art and architecture to literature, theater and cinema, he can mine Shakespeare, Moliere, Bruegel, Joyce, Metropolis, and Blade Runner for gems of lucidity. From "mutual incomprehension," Meisel finds--or creates--meaning in a manner that is linguistically playful as well as philosophically profound., [A] richly rewarding pendant volume. . . . Babel in Russian's horizon is modern Russian literature and culture, but its scholarly contribution finally has more to do with the wealth of information it collects and constellates than an argument that begins with Nimrod and ends with A. R. Ammons. The overriding effect of the intricate web of connections Meisel weaves in Babel in Russian is to suggest that the realization of the sublimity the Tower was intended to embody is finally to be found not in the imagined edifice but in its ongoing reception in Western culture., 'Chaos is come again!' predicts Othello. Nothing daunted, Martin Meisel plunges directly into the linguistic and intellectual chaos figured by the Tower of Babel in order to make sense of it. Paradoxically, his account is eminently lucid, illuminated by flashes of wit and pyrotechnic displays of erudition. The breadth of coverage extends from drama to architecture, with an equally impressive range of reference. Cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary, this is a masterfully researched, exquisitely written exploration of one of culture's most slippery concepts., This book reaches back into a Biblical past'e"Babel as origin of 'eoelinguistic chaos'e'e"with a theoretical panache that illuminates the present. Because Meisel is supremely well versed in areas ranging from visual art and architecture to literature, theater and cinema, he can mine Shakespeare, Moliere, Bruegel, Joyce, Metropolis, and Blade Runner  for gems of lucidity. From 'eoemutual incomprehension,'e Meisel finds'e"or creates'e"meaning in a manner that is linguistically playful as well as philosophically profound., As a follow-up to Chaos Imagined, Martin Meisel explores how language and chaos make and unmake each other. Babel is another coruscating contribution shot through with Meisel's sly humor and extraordinary erudition., Meisel takes the biblical account of the divinely forestalled tower of Babel as his point of departure for a suggestive consideration of the resulting "confusion of tongues" as a figure for chaos itself. Drawing on a dazzling array of texts (religious, philosophical, political, narrative, lyric, dramatic, filmic), the author reveals the extent to which the fraught relationship between chaos and order, design and disarray, richness and ruin, energy and fixity has been framed in terms of language--as the rift between word and world, as the non-correspondence of word and word that results from the dispersal of peoples and the proliferation of cultures, the blighted prospects for understanding and cooperation (let alone the construction of towers), and the longing for recognizable equivalents. The upside to all this divergence and difference is the proposition that what's needed (and possible) is not uniformity but unity, less a matter of being the same than of being in contact.In Meisel's learned discussion, what issues from that circumscribed report in Genesis is a cascade of hermeneutic possibilities that proceed from familiar melody to harmony to polyphony to a veritable canon of voices from centuries, genres, lands, and, aptly, languages. The result is a rich meditation on chaos that generates, associates, uncovers, and always, always illuminates. Reading it is a joy.
Dewey Edition23
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal891.709382
Table Of ContentPreface: A Second Fall Part I. Words and Things Chapter 1: Nimrod's Tower. Chapter 2: Monody and Polyphony Chapter 3: The Horizon of Etcetera. Part II: Building the Future Chapter 4: The Monument and the Labyrinth Chapter 5: The Electric City Chapter 6: Public and Private Chapter 7: After Babel
SynopsisThis study analyzes the biblical Tower of Babel story, a cautionary tale that accounts for the diversity of languages and peoples, in Russian literature and other topographies. The author pursues its linking of language, architecture, and society as well as its relevance in art and literature over centuries. To come to terms with a perceived disorder in the realm of language, alternative explanations and projects for remediation abound. The disorder and diversity themselves find expression in art, literature, and philosophical reflection and caused the emergence of a historical linguistics. The ambition of the builders--with its social and organizational premise--reemerges in both political and material form as cities, states, and monumental constructions. Utopian aspirations and linguistic claims permeate both revolutionary notions of universality and the romantic essentialism of the nation state. These in turn provoke dystopian critique in literature and film. As Martin Meisel reveals in this study, the wrestle with language in its recalcitrant instability and imperfect social function enters into dialogue with the celebration of its diversity, elasticity, and creativity., This study analyzes the biblical Tower of Babel story, a cautionary tale that accounts for the diversity of languages and peoples, in Russian literature and other topographies. The author pursues its linking of language, architecture, and society as well as its relevance in art and literature over centuries. To come to terms with a perceived disorder in the realm of language, alternative explanations and projects for remediation abound. The disorder and diversity themselves find expression in art, literature, and philosophical reflection and caused the emergence of a historical linguistics. The ambition of the builders-with its social and organizational premise-reemerges in both political and material form as cities, states, and monumental constructions. Utopian aspirations and linguistic claims permeate both revolutionary notions of universality and the romantic essentialism of the nation state. These in turn provoke dystopian critique in literature and film. As Martin Meisel reveals in this study, the wrestle with language in its recalcitrant instability and imperfect social function enters into dialogue with the celebration of its diversity, elasticity, and creativity., This study analyzes the biblical Tower of Babel story, a cautionary tale that accounts for the diversity of languages and peoples, in Russian literature and other topographies. The author pursues its linking of language, architecture, and society as well as its relevance in art and literature over centuries.
LC Classification NumberPG2987.R4
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