Which of the following is, in sum, Paul de Man’s thesis in such books as Blindness & Insight and Allegories of Reading?
A. In all things that speech can express, these are two elements – the outward or instrumental and the real or spiritual.
B. What literature “knows” is that knowledge is a paretic, that is, unavailable, because it is subject to a double bind. We cannot have access to the truth that we seek in literature; and this is literature’s truth.
C. Canonical works take the measure of the reader by means of their authority; their capacity to rebuke, baffles, and thwart us, as well as surprise us with unexpected, astonishing power. Even at its most frustrating, the canonical work draws us on; in our fascination, we remain loyal to it.
D. In the struggle for the allegiance of the reading public, the established poetics can point to prestigious finished products whereas the adherents of the new poetics cannot yet do so. Consequently, the challenges being to import their own ‘finished products’.
Answer:B
Which of the following is, in sum, Paul de Man’s thesis in such books as Blindness & Insight and Allegories of Reading?
A. In all things that speech can express, these are two elements – the outward or instrumental and the real or spiritual. B. What literature “knows” is that knowledge is a paretic, that is, unavailable, because it is subject to a double bind. We cannot have access to the truth that we seek in literature; and this is literature’s truth. C. Canonical works take the measure of the reader by means of their authority; their capacity to rebuke, baffles, and thwart us, as well as surprise us with unexpected, astonishing power. Even at its most frustrating, the canonical work draws us on; in our fascination, we remain loyal to it. D. In the struggle for the allegiance of the reading public, the established poetics can point to prestigious finished products whereas the adherents of the new poetics cannot yet do so. Consequently, the challenges being to import their own ‘finished products’.