The Essayistic Spirit

Despite the recognition of a `great tradition' of essayists, the genre remains underrated in literary studies. Claire de Obaldia's wide-ranging study argues that to relegate the essay is to ignore the fact that our `modern' conception of literature is fundamentally essayistic, and that all texts are implicitly regarded as essays. Exploring both the creative potential of the essay and the limits on the borders of philosophy, literature and criticism, this comparative study draws on the writings of Montaigne, early German Romantics, Lukcs, Adorno, Derrida, Hartman, Barthes, Proust, Broch, Musil, Bakhtin, and Borges.