Memos from the Besieged City : Lifelines for Cultural Sustainability Hardback

by Djelal Kadir

Part of the Cultural Memory in the Present series

Hardback

Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks

Description

Memos from the Besieged City argues for the institutional and cultural relevance of literary study through foundational figures, from the 1200s to today, who defied precarious circumstances to make significant contributions to literacy and civilization in the face of infelicitous human acts.

Focusing on historically vital crossroadsâ€”Baghdad, Florence, Byzantium, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, New York, Mexico City, Jerusalem, Beijing, Stockholm, Warsawâ€”Kadir looks at how unconventional and nonconformist writings define literacy, culture, and intellectual commitment.

Inspired by political refugee and literary scholar Erich Auerbach's path-breaking Mimesis, and informed by late twentieth-century ideological and methodological upheavals, the book reflects on literacy and dissidence at a moment when literary disciplines, canons, and theories are being reassessed under the pressure of globalization and transculturation.

At the forefront of an ethical turn in the comparative analysis of cultures and their literary legacies, it reminds us of the best humanity can produce.