Sprachkunst Jahrgang XLI/2010/2. Halbband, pp. 299-312, 2012/07/18
Beiträge zur Literaturwissenschaft
The essay addresses the French concept of rien (nothing) as an alternative to ‘nothingness’. Its diverse uses from the Enlightenment to modern philosophy and avant-garde literature can be studied as items in the history of thought. From ironic and pejorative instances the ambiguous rien has developed into a philosopheme that blends literary language with philosophical argumentation. Rien has been applied as a notion that defies conceptual thought inherent in philosophy, and this polysemy derives from its ambiguous import.
