Abstract
In Agamben's works, there is a tension between the mysterious fire and the narrative language. The language, which derives from the doxologies in Christology, seals the mystery between the Heaven and the Earth. Rilke's Duino Elegies and H9 lderlin's poetry could be regarded as the production of these signatures. However, if we intend to break the signature, we cannot destroy the words and verses in poetry, as Mallarmé does in Coup de dès, because as soon as we destroy the signature, the mystery behind it will be dispersed. Therefore, Agamben argues that we can transform the fossilized political and linguistic order into a new potential through profaning words which make those operated apparatuses inoperative. The poems written by Phillipe Beck are exactly profaning poetry, in which, by inoperativity of words, the mystery sealed by poetry realizes its potentiality in a radical and new form.
First Page
49
Last Page
58
Recommended Citation
Lan, Jiang. 2018. "Words as Signatures: Agamben and the End of Poetry." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 38, (2): pp.49-58. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss2/21
