Nihilism and the Sublime Postmodern

Slocombe, William, Nihilism and the Sublime Postmodern (New York: Routledge, 2005) RAE2008

Divided into three parts - history, theory and praxis - this book examines the relationship between nihilism and postmodernism in relation to the sublime. Arguing against the simplistic division in literary criticism between nihilism and the sublime, the book demonstrates that both are clearly implicated with the Enlightenment. Postmodernism, as a product of Enlightenment, is therefore implicitly related to both nihilism and the sublime, despite the fact that it is often characterized as either nihilistic or sublime. Containing chapters on aesthetics and ethics, this book presents a coherent thesis for reappraising the relationship between nihilism and the sublime, and grounds this argument with frequent references to postmodern literature, making it a book suitable for both researchers and those more generally interested in postmodern literature.