Notes on the Relationship between Literature and Philosophy

Abstract: Literature and philosophy evoke a simultaneous proximity of topic domains alongside a divergence in the approaches and methods with which they relate to them. While acknowledging both, this article explores the potential for collaborative interconnection and a possible alliance between otherwise differing fields. It traces the processes of Hegel’s dialectics and Foucault’s transgression, then brings them together with de Beauvoir’s notion of transcendence, to merge affirmation with negation and transformation. Together, the three concepts allow for a reading that addresses the multitude of all in a way that also encompasses its negation but ultimately enables reinvention. By engaging with differences, otherness, and limits in this productive and reconstructive manner, literature and philosophy can reveal the dynamic and creative reemergence of their content, themselves, and each other, and assist in further reimagining other orders of thought.