A Responsibility to the World: Saramago, Politics, Philosophy
Burghard Baltrusch / Carlo Salzani / Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte (eds.):
A Responsibility to the World: Saramago, Politics, Philosophy
Berlin: Frank & Timme 2023
Ibero-Romance Studies in Literature and Translatology – Studies in Contemporary Literature, vol. 9), 302 pages, paperback
Book: ISBN 978-3-7329-0958-2, EUR 59.80
E-Book: ISBN 978-3-7329-8985-0, EUR 70.00
In a 1987 interview, José Saramago eloquently expressed what could be considered his political-philosophical manifesto: “Human beings should not content themselves with the role of mere observers.
They bear a responsibility to the world; they must actively engage and intervene.” In 1998 the celebrated writer was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature. So Saramago did not only as a human being and a citizen, but also as an artist refuse to be a passive observer. Despite his profound and always critical pessimism, he tirelessly propelled both his public and artistic persona toward impactful actions and interventions, showcasing an unwavering dedication to reshaping the world. This volume seeks to delve into this facet of his legacy, exploring it from diverse political and philosophical perspectives.
The Editors
Burghard Baltrusch coordinates the International José Saramago Chair at the University of Vigo and is a member of the Instituto de Literatura Comparada Margarida Losa (UP), and of the Galician Interuniversity Centre for Research on Atlantic Landscapes and Cultures.
Carlo Salzani is Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Innsbruck, Guest Scholar at the Messerli Research Institute of Vienna, and faculty member of the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT).
Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte is a philosopher and Research Fellow at the Department of Philosophy of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein (South Africa).
Contents
Burghard Baltrusch, Carlo Salzani and Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte: "Observing, Acting, Intervening: Saramago’s Responsibility to the World"
Marcia Tiburi: "Utopia/Dystopia: José Saramago and the Regency Apocalypse"
Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte: "Islands and Boats: (Lucid?) Meditations on a Stone Utopia and a Naval Heterotopia in the Work of José Saramago"
Raquel Varela and Roberto della Santa: "Raised from the Ground and the Spectre of Revolution"
David Jenkins: "Seeing Populism in Seeing"
Marco Mazzocca: "The Color of Democracy"
Carlo Sabbatini: "Saramago, Agamben, and the ‘Invention of an Epidemic’"
Gustavo Racy: "Debord and Saramago: Allegories of the Society of Spectacle in Blindness and The Cave"
Burghard Baltrusch: "Approaching Death and Ethics in José Saramago through Blimunda’s Memorial"
Egídia Souto and Philippe Charlier: "A Literary Autopsy: An Anthropological and Medical Approach to Saramago’s Oeuvre"
Hania A. M. Nashef: "Canines: Unlikely Protagonists in the Novels of Coetzee, Saramago and Shibli"
Carlo Salzani: "The Temptations of Anthropomorphism, or, How an Elephant Can Help Us Become Human"
Miloš Ćipranić: "What is a Book?"
The book can be ordered or downloaded here:
