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Melancholy = Melankólia / László F. Földényi ; translated from the Hungarian by Tim Wilkinson ; foreword by Alberto Manguel

Author
Földényi, F. László, 1952-
Uniform Title
Melankólia. English
Additional Titles
Melankólia
Published
New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 2016.
Physical Description
1 online resource
Additional Creators
Wilkinson, Tim and Manguel, Alberto
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Language Note
In English, translated from the Hungarian.
Contents
The initiates -- In the prison of the humors -- The excluded -- The challenge of fate -- The bribed -- Premature death of the Romantics -- Love and melancholia -- Illness -- Trembling from freedom.
Summary
A leading European intellectual reflects on the changing concept of melancholy throughout history. A leading European intellectual reflects on the changing concept of melancholy throughout history Alberto Manguel praises the Hungarian writer Lszl Fldnyi as "one of the most brilliant essayists of our time." Fldnyi's extraordinary Melancholy, with its profusion of literary, ecclesiastical, artistic, and historical insights, gives proof to such praise. His book, part history of the term melancholy and part analysis of the melancholic disposition, explores many centuries to explore melancholy's ambiguities. Along the way Fldnyi discovers the unrecognized role melancholy may play as a source of energy and creativity in a well-examined life. Fldnyi begins with a tour of the history of the word melancholy, from ancient Greece to the medieval era, the Renaissance, and modern times. He finds the meaning of melancholy has always been ambiguous, even paradoxical. In our own times it may be regarded either as a psychic illness or a mood familiar to everyone. The author analyzes the complexities of melancholy and concludes that its dual nature reflects the inherent tension of birth and mortality. To understand the melancholic disposition is to find entry to some of the deepest questions one's life. This distinguished translation brings Fldnyi's work directly to English-language readers for the first time.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780300220698 (electronic bk.)
0300220693 (electronic bk.)
9780300167481
Note
Translation of: Melankólia.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-341).
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