DEATH AND THE DEMAND OF WRITING: BLANCHOT, HEGEL, HEIDEGGER

Maurice Blanchot has radically transformed the terms in which it is henceforth possible to think the question of literature. He is one of the first writers to have seriously demonstrated the radical philosophical import of literature. In his attempt to rethink literature, Blanchot persistently refers to the concept of death. It is in relation to death, according to Blanchot, that we first of all experience a feeling of dread, which relates us to a nothingness at the heart of our existence. It is precisely this experience that gives rise to the demand for writing. The purpose of this article is to show to what extent is Blanchot's consideration of literature developed within (and against) the Hegelian and Heideggerian thought.