Naissances/Births (review)

??? COHPAnATIST physics' notion ofunity, in which the subject-object relationship is resolved by the Same absorbing or being absorbed by the Other, the Same and the Other becoming one in some transcendental ego. Deeply influenced by Kant's ethical notion of dignity , that rational beings as ends-in-themselves have an inherent worth that cannot be exchanged for anything else, Lévinas argues for an ethics that recognizes the autonomy and independence ofthe other, what he terms "the face." "From the start, the encounter with the Other is my responsibility for him." In this, the ontology of the Other becomes the basis for ethics, bridging the modern and the postmodern, philosophy and religion, utopia andjustice. It offers an important contribution to the whole debate on the ethics ofthe Other and the ethics ofreading. A French Jew ofLithuanian origins, Lévinas has a special relationship to the Other. Entre Nous offers a valuable introduction to his thought. Originally published in 1991 as Entre Nous: Essaysur lepenser-à-l'autre by Editions Grassett & Fasquelle, Entre Nous collects twenty essays, papers, and interviews, arranged chronologically from the 1951 article "Is Ontology Fundamental?" to the 1988 interview "The Other, Utopia, and Justice." Taken as a whole, they trace the trajectory ofLévinas's reflections on questions ofontology, hermeneutics, intentionality , and ethics, showing the development ofhis concepts ofthe Face, the Other, and his views on matters of religion and justice. They clarify his relationship with Husserl and Heidegger, Martin Buber and Gabriel Marcel. The translation by Smith and Harshav is accurate, capturing something ofLévinas 's aphoristic style. Their efforts represent a valuable contribution to both philosophy and literary studies, making the essential themes ofLévinas's philosophy available in an accessible form. As Lévinas becomes more widely known, his role in postmodem critical theory can be more fully appreciated, both for his influence on others, and more fundamentally, for his original contributions to our understanding ofthe ethics ofthe Other, and his desire to bridge the postmodem divide. Thomas L. CookseyArmstrongAtlanticState University JULES SUPERVIELLE. Naissances/Births. Trans. Philip Cranston. Potomac, MD: Scripta Humanística, 1992. ix + 99 pp. Jules Supervielle, the uncanny twentieth-century French poet, strangely comfortable and comfortably strange to our sensitivity and affection, has found a blood brother, a refined and natural poet as well as a faithful translator, Philip Cranston. For his own pleasure and torture, sweet torture as it were, Cranston has translated Supervielle's eclectic 1951 collection ofpoems and essays Naissances/Births with a simple touch and a modesty that are strikingly familiar since they recall the poet's own inclination toward a simple language and sincere tone. "This genuine tone, this sincerity ofaccent, this simplicity, I, for my part, have always tried to retain" (81). Supervielle's sincerity and his desire to express his anxiety and passion in plain words and harmonious verses are matched by Cranston's unpretentious translation. For example, when Supervielle speaks to the specter ofthe mother he never knew, the tragedy ofher complete absence is captured in an imaginary face in which the poet kindly confronts his own self, striving to be as modest as the image he has brought forth: "Forgive me I could never learn, sweet likeness / To imitate your modesty, your silence" (39). These lines could well apply to the relationship Cranston establishes through his translation with the poet he has never known in person. Vol. 24 (2000): 183 BOOK NOTES The translation ofSupervielle's poetry has been a lifelong project for Cranston who feels a closeness to the poet, a tender and respectful commitment to his poetry. He has kept close watch over his translations, some begun over forty years ago, left aside for years, reworked episodically, thought through in their minute details, never final, as ifhis fondness for the poet imposed on his translating skills an unabating self-criticism. In his introduction, Cranston speaks to the excitement oftranslation and to its many challenges but also to the fact that the successful translator knows that he must always be in good spirit and accept losing his wager to the poem itself. He also addresses the thorny question ofform. Nothing is more arduous than transposing specific poetic forms from one prosodie...