* * This is a revised and enlarged version of an earlier collection * *


MAURICE BLANCHOT (1907-2003) was a French philosopher, literary theorist and novelist.  Described by James Kirkup as "the most reclusive author of the 20th century," there are only two known photographs of Blanchot.  His work challenged the boundaries between the literary and the philosophical, and his theories on the relationship between the writer, language, literature and philosophy influenced a generation of post-modern and post-structuralist thinkers such as Foucault and Derrida. 

Blanchot draws heavily from Franz Kafka, and his fictional work (like his theoretical work) is shot through with an engagement with Kafka's writing.  His later work in particular is influenced by Levinasian ethics and the question of responsibility to the Other.  On the other hand, Blanchot's own literary works, like the famous THOMAS THE OBSCURE,  heavily influenced Levinas's and Bataille's ideas about the possibility that our vision of reality is blurred because of the use of words.

In his final years, Blanchot communicated with very few people, preferring to refer to himself as "already dead" and his publications as "posthumous."  His friendship with Derrida remained strong, however, and the two communicated until Blanchot’s death in 2003.  Derrida delivered the eulogy. 


The following books (and some unlisted journal articles) are in PDF format unless otherwise indicated:

* AMINADAB (University of Nebraska, 2002).  Translated with an Introduction by Jeff Fort.

* AWAITING OBLIVION (University of Nebraska, 1997).  Translated by John Gregg.

* THE BLANCHOT READER (Blackwell, 1995).  Edited by Michael Holland.

* THE BOOK TO COME (Stanford UP, 2003).  Translated by Charlotte Mandell.

* DEATH SENTENCE (Station Hill, 1978).  Translated by Lydia Davis.

* FRIENDSHIP (Stanford UP, 1997).  Translated by Elizabeth Rottenberg.

* THE INFINITE CONVERSATION (University of Minnesota, 1993).  Translated with a Foreword by Susan Hanson.

* THE INSTANT OF MY DEATH (Stanford UP, 2000).  Translated by Elizabeth Rottenberg.  Also includes "Demeure: Fiction and Testimony" by Jacques Derrida.

* INTO DISASTER: Chronicles of Intellectual Life, 1941 (Fordham UP, 2013).  Translated by Michael Holland.

* THE LAST MAN (/ubu Editions, 2007).  Translated by Lydia Davis.

* THE STATION HILL BLANCHOT READER: Fiction & Literary Essays (Station Hill, 1999).  Edited by George Quasha.  Translated by Lydia Davis, Paul Auster, and Robert Lamberton.

* THE STEP NOT BEYOND (SUNY Press, 1992).  Translated with an Introduction by Lycette Nelson.

* THOMAS THE OBSCURE (Station Hill, 1988).  Translated by Robert Lamberton. -- PDF + ePUB

* THE UNAVOWABLE COMMUNITY (Station Hill, 1988).  Translated by Pierre Joris.

* THE WORK OF FIRE (Stanford UP, 1995).  Translated by Charlotte Mandell.

* THE WRITING OF THE DISASTER (University of Nebraska, 1995).  New edition.  Translated by Ann Smock