articles by Gabriel Renggli
A look at Finnegans Wake through Deleuze and Guattari's concept of becoming and Luce Irigaray's d... more A look at Finnegans Wake through Deleuze and Guattari's concept of becoming and Luce Irigaray's discussion of metonymy.
Discusses meta-textual scenes in the fiction of James Joyce and Jorge Luis Borges, Borges's criti... more Discusses meta-textual scenes in the fiction of James Joyce and Jorge Luis Borges, Borges's criticism of Joyce's more baroque excesses, and readings of Shakespeare by Joyce, Borges, and Jacques Derrida.
On Joyce's meta-textuality and the new edition of Finnegans Wake.
A look at Finnegans Wake's relation to various myths about the origin and the nature of language,... more A look at Finnegans Wake's relation to various myths about the origin and the nature of language, including the Flood, the Tower of Babel, Pentecost, and Vico's philosophy. I argue that Joyce implements these myths in a manner that resonates with his own use of imprecision as a positive feature of language.
other writing by Gabriel Renggli
Jacques Lacan is famous for his claim that "the unconscious is structured like a language" (The F... more Jacques Lacan is famous for his claim that "the unconscious is structured like a language" (The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis). It summarizes his assumption that language is the key to our living in the symbolic order: the strategies we use to make sense of the world, including our cultures' accumulated knowledge, conventions, and social structures. Yet our very reliance on these systems confronts us with experiences that defy interpretation and representation. These transgressive moments are what Lacan calls the real.
Argues that the Wachowskis are more interested in the question of free will than in reality vs. s... more Argues that the Wachowskis are more interested in the question of free will than in reality vs. simulation.
Books by Gabriel Renggli
Joyce as Theory is the first book-length examination of James Joyce to argue he can be read as a ... more Joyce as Theory is the first book-length examination of James Joyce to argue he can be read as a theorist. Joyce is not just a favorite case study of literary theory; he wrote about how we make meaning, and to what effect. The present volume traces his hermeneutics in those narratives in Finnegans Wake which deal with textual production and interpretation, showing that the Wake's difficulty exemplifies Joyce's theoretical stance. All reading involves responding to problems we cannot quite fathom. This preoccupation places Joyce alongside Jacques Derrida and Jacques Lacan. Joyce as Theory revives debates on theory with a linguistic focus, laying open misconceptions that have muddled attempts to be over and done with this kind of thought. It demonstrates that Derrida and Lacan, almost exclusively presented as rivals, converge on a common position. It opposes the myth of linguistic theory as a formalist approach, instead showing that Joyce, Derrida, and Lacan give us a hermeneutic ethics alert to how meaning-making impacts our lived experience. And it challenges the notion that theory imposes matters alien to Joyce, demonstrating that it is an appreciation of Joyce's arguments in Finnegans Wake that generates a theoretical perspective.
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articles by Gabriel Renggli
other writing by Gabriel Renggli
Books by Gabriel Renggli