Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece by Fran?ois Jullien

Description: Detour and Access by François Jullien, Sophie Hawkes An exploration of the central role of indirect modes of expression in ancient China. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description "In what way do we benefit from speaking of things indirectly? How does such a distancing allow us better to discover - and describe - people and objects? How does distancing produce an effect? What can we gain from approaching the world obliquely? In other words, how does detour grant access?" Thus begins Francois Julliens investigation into the strategy, subtlety, and production of meaning in ancient and modern Chinese aesthetic and political texts and events. Moving between the rhetorical traditions of ancient Greece and China, Jullien does not attempt a simple comparison of the two civilisations. Instead, he uses the perspective provided by each to gain access into a culture considered by many Westerners to be strange - "Its all Chinese to me" - and whose strangeness has been eclipsed through the assumption of its familiarity. He also uses the comparison to shed light on the role of Greek thinking in Western civilisation. Jullien rereads the major texts of Chinese thought - The Book of Songs, Confuciuss Analects and the work of Mencius and Lao-Tse.He addresses the question of oblique, indirect and allusive meaning in order to explore how the techniques of detour provide access to subtler meanings than are attainable through direct approaches. Indirect speech, Jullien concludes, yields a complex mode of indication, open to multiple perspectives and variations, infinitely adaptable to particular situations and contexts. Concentrating on that which is not said, or which is spoken only through other means, Jullien traces the benefits and costs of this rhetorical strategy in which absolute truth is absent. Author Biography François Jullien is Professor at the Université Paris VII-Denis Diderot and director at the Institut de la Pensée Contemporaine. He is the author of Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece, The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China, and In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics all published by Zone Books. Long Description "In what way do we benefit from speaking of things indirectly? How does such a distancing allow us better to discover - and describe - people and objects? How does distancing produce an effect? What can we gain from approaching the world obliquely? In other words, how does detour grant access?" Thus begins Francois Julliens investigation into the strategy, subtlety, and production of meaning in ancient and modern Chinese aesthetic and political texts and events. Moving between the rhetorical traditions of ancient Greece and China, Jullien does not attempt a simple comparison of the two civilisations. Instead, he uses the perspective provided by each to gain access into a culture considered by many Westerners to be strange - "Its all Chinese to me" - and whose strangeness has been eclipsed through the assumption of its familiarity. He also uses the comparison to shed light on the role of Greek thinking in Western civilisation. Jullien rereads the major texts of Chinese thought - The Book of Songs, Confuciuss Analects and the work of Mencius and Lao-Tse.He addresses the question of oblique, indirect and allusive meaning in order to explore how the techniques of detour provide access to subtler meanings than are attainable through direct approaches. Indirect speech, Jullien concludes, yields a complex mode of indication, open to multiple perspectives and variations, infinitely adaptable to particular situations and contexts. Concentrating on that which is not said, or which is spoken only through other means, Jullien traces the benefits and costs of this rhetorical strategy in which absolute truth is absent. Details ISBN1890951110 Short Title DETOUR & ACCESS Language English Translator Sophie Hawkes ISBN-10 1890951110 ISBN-13 9781890951115 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 181.11 Year 2004 Subtitle Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Translated from French Imprint Zone Books Audience Age 18 DOI 10.1604/9781890951115 UK Release Date 2004-05-03 NZ Release Date 2004-05-03 US Release Date 2004-05-03 Series Detour and Access Author Sophie Hawkes Pages 432 Publisher Zone Books Publication Date 2004-05-03 Alternative 9781890951108 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2004-07-11 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:161663664;

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