Paul De Man was a Belgian-born literary critic and theorist. He was a major figure in the development of deconstruction, a form of post-structuralist literary criticism. His work has had a major influence on literary and cultural studies in Europe and the United States.
What is the most famous quote by Paul De Man ?
The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. As such, it both affirms and denies its own nature.
— Paul De Man
What can you learn from Paul De Man (Life Lessons)
- Paul De Man's work emphasizes the importance of reading texts closely and attentively, as the meaning of a text can often be found in its details and nuances.
- He also emphasizes the importance of taking into account the historical and cultural context of a text when interpreting it, as this can provide insight into the author's intentions and the text's implications.
- Finally, De Man's work highlights the importance of recognizing the potential for ambiguity and multiple interpretations in any text, as this can help us to better understand its complexities.
The most spectacular Paul De Man quotes that are new and everybody is talking about
Following is a list of the best quotes, including various Paul De Man inspirational quotes, and other famous sayings by Paul De Man.
Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts.
Literature exists at the same time in the modes of error and truth;
it both betrays and obeys its own mode of being.
The critical method which denies literary modernity would appear -- and even, in certain respects, would be -- the most modern of critical movements.
The writer's language is to some degree the product of his own action;
he is both the historian and the agent of his own language.
The bases for historical knowledge are not empirical facts but written texts, even if these texts masquerade in the guise of wars or revolutions.
Curiously enough, it seems to be only in describing a mode of language which does not mean what it says that one can actually say what one means.
Modernity exists in the form of a desire to wipe out whatever came earlier, in the hope of reaching at least a point that could be called a true present, a point of origin that marks a new departure.
Literature... is condemned (or privileged) to be forever the most rigorous and, consequently, the most reliable of terms in which man names and transforms himself.
Deconstructive quotes by Paul De Man
The critical method which denies literary modernity would appear - and even, in certain respects, would be - the most modern of critical movements.
Fashion is like the ashes left behind by the uniquely shaped flames of the fire, the trace alone revealing that a fire actually took place.
Death is a displaced name for a linguistic predicament.
If one reads too quickly or too slowly, one understands nothing.
What we call ideology is precisely the confusion of linguistic with natural reality, of reference with phenomenalism