Werner Hamacher (, 1948 – 2017) was a German

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and

theorist A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

influenced by

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

. Hamacher studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

and religious studies at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

and the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

), where he met and came to know

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

.Werner Hamacher.
Faculty Webpage at

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, P ...

. Biography and bibliography. From 1998 to 2013 he was a Professor in the University of Frankfurt's Institute for General and Comparative Literature (''Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft''),Werner Hamacher.
at

Frankfurt University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

. Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft (German) and since 2003 he was on the faculty of the

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

, Switzerland. He was previously Professor of German and the Humanities at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and taught for a number of years at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He was the author of ''Pleroma—Dialectics and Hermeneutics in Hegel'' and ''Premises: Essays on Philosophy from Kant to Celan'' and the editor of the series ''Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics'', published by

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...

. He translated a selection of essays by Paul de Man into German.

Translations

*Hamacher, Werner. ''Para-la filología / 95 Tesis sobre la Filología'', Buenos Aires, Miño y Dávila editores, 2011. *Hamacher, Werner. ''Lingua amissa'', Buenos Aires, Miño y Dávila editores, 2012.

References

External links

Werner Hamacher.
Faculty Webpage at

Werner Hamacher.
at

. Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft. (German) __NOTOC__ 1948 births 2017 deaths European Graduate School faculty 20th-century German philosophers Continental philosophers Deconstruction German literary critics German male writers {{Germany-academic-bio-stub