The End of the Poem: Studies in Poetics

Agamben (philosophy, U. of Verona) rethinks the nature of poetic language and rearticulates relationships among theology, poetry, and philosophy in a tradition of literature initiated by Dante. He presents ＂literature＂ as a set of formal or linguistic genres that discuss or develop theological issues at a certain distance from the discourse of theology. He opens by discussing how Dante’s poem is a ＂comedy,＂ and concludes by arguing that literature has passed into a period in which it is concerned with its own ending, bounds and limits. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)