Maurice Blanchot and the space of imaginary: an approach

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the notion of space, applied to the study of literary work, present in the writings of Maurice Blanchot. Based mainly on his reflections on the works of Joubert, Borges, Kafka and Mallarmé, we try to show that space, for Blanchot, appears as a profound dimension of the imaginary, derived from the way the work – supported by the dynamic of image – relates to reality and the external world where it appears as a disruptive event. Space – a notion central to Blanchot’s – is thus the place of wandering, of misunderstanding and uncertainty, and its best metaphor is represented by the topographer of Kafka’s The Castle, which perhaps offered to Blanchot the starting point and a concrete synthesis of his thought.