Situating the essay
between philosophy and literature?
pp. 61-79
in: Barry Stocker, Michael Mack (eds), The Palgrave handbook of philosophy and literature, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
Discussion of the relations between philosophy and literature inevitably hits up against the question of boundaries. Perhaps no more so than in the case of the essay. While some position the essay as an autonomous form between philosophy and literature, others see it more as a bridge linking the two—a bridge implicated on both sides of the abyss. Indeed, even as an autonomous form, the essay is more often than not understood to have a privileged access to, or relation with, both philosophy and literature. While we can chart a history of the essay in the West, where this privileged access to both is the case, we can identify moments where the essay colonizes philosophy, in order to become its privileged form.