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Literature and Theology 2004 18(1):95-108; doi:10.1093/litthe/18.1.95
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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Otherwise than Being John Malkovich: Incarnating the Name of God

William Young

King's College, Pennsylvania wwyoung@kings.edu

In Being John Malkovich, the human struggle for recognition and self-consciousness leads to destruction, emptiness, and ultimately solitude. By contrast, Elijah, the chimpanzee, finds his freedom and healing in being for the other. This discovery lets one reconsider the relationship between language, embodiment, and responsibility in Emmanuel Levinas' work. As speech and language disclose the infinitude of responsibility—its unfolding within finite sensibility and embodiment—Elijah's actions help untie the enigmatic knot in Levinas' philosophy regarding language and animality, responsibly reading the body of his texts in an attempt to unite ethics and truth.


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