Rewriting the Self: Histories from the Middle Ages to the Present - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415142792 ISBN 13: 9780415142793

Publisher: Routledge, 1996

Synopsis

Rewriting the Self is an exploration of ideas of the self in the western cultural tradition from the Renaissance to the Present. The contributors analyse differing religious, philosophical, psychological, political, psychoanalytical and literary models of personal identity. They examine these models from a number of viewpoints, including the history of ideas, contemporary gender politics, and post-modernist literary theory.
Rewriting the Self offers a challenge to the received version of the 'ascent of western man'. Lively and controversial, the book broaches big questions in an accessible way.
Rewriting the Self arises from a seminar series held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. The contributors include prominent academics from a range of disciplines.

About this title

About the Author

Roy Porter

From the Back Cover

The fundamental issue of identity has been endlessly explored by philosophers, poets, priests, psychologists, and men and women generally. Whilst the question has stayed the same, the answers offered have changed over time. This book examines changing notions of selfhood from a historical perspective. The overarching perception of Rewriting the Self is that the received version of the 'ascent of Western man' needs to be rethought in the light of the critical cultural analyses of today. Rereadings are offered of classic texts like those of Descartes, but wider perspectives are also presented. These assess the discursive construction of the self in the light of political, technological and social changes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415142792
• ISBN 13: 9780415142793
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Porter Roy