Montaigne begins his Essais (1580) by announcing to the reader that “je suis moy-mesmes la matiere de mon livre” (I am myself the matter of my book). Taking this as a point of departure, this seminar on the Essais approaches Montaigne as a seminal theorist – and active practitioner – of textual materiality and technological mediation. Secondary works studied include readings in book history, media theory, ancient materialist philosophy, and “new materialisms”.
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