School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications

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    Richard Rorty and the Poet's Utopia
    FERRELL, ROBYN (Allen & Unwin, 1991)
    CARTOGRAPHIES is grounded in a theoretical framework which combines post-structural semiotics nd a philosophy of the body. Drawing particularly on the work of Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze, Irigaray and Benjamin, the chapters variously challenge the distinction between material reality and representation.Richard Rorty's vision of the liberal utopia, which he outlines in the introduction to his recent book, Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, is an explicit example of a narrative that is common, if submerged, in many recent adaptations of post-structuralism. The utopian pleasures of the text promise liberation from the cramping empiricism of science, the leaden labour of politics, and the dragging chains of metaphysics. Or is it a delusional escape? Rorty' book is dedicated: 'In memory of six liberals: my parents and grandparents'. This chapter dedicates itself to exploring the strange coupling of liberalism and post-structuralism.