Five Lessons on Wagner

By: Alain Badiou

Published December 13th 2010 by Verso (first published January 1st 2010)

Category: Biography

Pages: 224 pages

ISBN: 9781844674565

Description:
For over a century, Richard WagnerÕs music has been the subject of intense debate among philosophers, many of whom have attacked its ideologicalÑsome say racist and reactionaryÑunderpinnings. In this major new work, Alain Badiou, radical philosopher and keen Wagner enthusiast, offers a detailed reading of the critical responses to the composerÕs work, which include AdornoÕs writings on the composer and WagnerÕs recuperation by Nazism as well as more recent readings by Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and others. Slavoj ?i?ek provides an afterword, and both philosophers make a passionate case for re-examining the relevance of Wagner to the contemporary world.