Of an Alien Homecoming

Charles Bambach is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is author of Thinking the Poetic Measure of Justice: Hölderlin-Heidegger-Celan, also published by SUNY Press.

• AbbreviationsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionI. Hölderlin as a "Transition"II. Philosophical "Andenken": Hölderlin as the Voice of the Other BeginningIII. Who is Heidegger's Hölderlin?IV. Language, "Ethos," and the Ethicality of Being1. Hölderlin's Hymns "Germania" and "The Rhine"I. "Hölderlin" and the Great WarII. Norbert von Hellingrath and the Hölderlin MythIII. Heidegger and the "Secret" GermaniaIV. Hölderlin without HistoryV. "The Rhine": Heidegger and Originary Springing ForthVI. "Physis" as "Poiesis": Beyng as Poetic EventVII. The Mystery of "das Reinentsprungene" and the Vocation of the PoetVIII. The Beyng of the Demigods2. Heidegger's "Remembrance" LecturesI. Hölderlin and "The National"II. A Metapolitics of the VolkIII. Staging the "Remembrance" Lectures: The VestibuleIV. The Greeting of the WindV. Jews, Greeks, and the Occlusion of the First BeginningVI. The Time of the Festival and the Graeco-German BeginningVII. Festival, Equinoctial Time, and the Balance of EquilibriumVIII. Heidegger's Destinal Politics of a German National MissionIX. The Passage to the Foreign and the Journey Homeward3. Heidegger's "Ister" Lectures: Ethical Dwelling in the (Foreign) HomelandI. "Hölderlin" as the Name for an Other Beginning of ThinkingII. Dwelling in the Intimacy of Truth: Oppositional Harmony and the Böhlendorff LogicIII. Translation and the Uncanny Essence of Human BeingIV. Tragedy and the Definition of the Human Being as a "Katastrophe"V. The Language of Contradiction: Oxymoron and Tragic ManifestationVI. Poet and River as Demi-GodsVII. "At home is spirit not at the beginning"VIII. Of Time and the River: Naming, Reversal, and Historical DwellingIX. German Hospitality?4. Historical Interlude: Heidegger in 1945–1946I. Heidegger's "Kahlschlag": The Poverty of ThinkingII. Heidegger's Revenge: War-Guilt, Retribution, and the Politics of RessentimentIII. Hölderlin, the West, and Destiny5. Heidegger in Dialogue with Hölderlin: "The Western Conversation"I. Heidegger's "Conversation" with HölderlinII. The Schwung from the First to the Other BeginningIII. The Opening of "The Western Conversation"IV. The Ister as Fateful Site of an OrdealV. Hölderlin, Destiny, and the German BequestVI. Poetic Geography and Destinal History: The German DanubeVII. The Bread and Wine Fragment and German DestinyPostscriptNotesBibliographyIndex

"Of an Alien Homecoming is a landmark achievement and a unique insight into the still-hidden essence of European modernity." — CHOICE"This is the definitive study of Heidegger and Hölderlin in any language. It goes far beyond its competitors in its reconstruction and evaluation of the historical-political background to Heidegger's engagement with Hölderlin, as well as in its thorough knowledge of the entirety of Heidegger's formidable corpus." — Ian Moore, Loyola Marymount University/St. John's College"A much-needed study that will become indispensable reading for all those wanting to continue the conversation about the importance (including the pitfalls) of Heidegger's 'Hölderlin.'" — Krzysztof Ziarek, University at Buffalo, State University of New York