On The Aesthetic Political Concept Of Agamben's "Homo Sacer" And Its Philosophical Poetic Significance

The famous Italian scholar Giorgio Agamben(1942-)is an iconic figure of the contemporary Western radical leftist philosopher.He proposed some concepts of political philosophy such as “homo sacer” in the mid-to-late 1990 s.The concept reflects the bio-political criticism to the sovereigns and profoundly affects the field of literary aesthetics.As a kind of “bare life” that can be killed at will without sacrificed,the homo sacer counterpoints the sovereigns,and can be used to describe the situations such as Nazi concentration camps,illegal immigrants in Europe,or Guantanamo prisons in Cuba,involving the important issues of biopower.This thesis focuses on Agamben's aesthetic political concept“homo sacer”,and explores its ideological implications,literary interpretation,and philosophical values.The first chapter discusses the ideological implications of the aesthetics of the homo sacer.First,distinguish the concept of homo sacer.Secondly,explore the content and characteristics of homo sacer as bare life.Thirdly,it illustrates the typical image and implication of homo sacer such as refugees,versuchspersonen(human guinea pigs)and the“muselmann”.Finally,it reveals the resistance and meaning of the profanation,games,and potentials of the aesthetics of the homo sacer.The second chapter discusses the possibility and new space of homo sacer as aesthetic political concept for literary interpretation.The Nobel Prize winner Imre's autobiographical novel Fatelessness is taken as a case study concerned with the characters,places and dispositif/apparatus of the novel.The description of the protagonist of the novel is a literary expression of the homo sacer's bare life.The concentration camp is a typical place for the manufacture of the homo sacer.The behavior of the various dispositif/apparatus of the sovereigns implies the resistance of life power.We examine the literary works with the aesthetic political concept of Agamben's homo sacer,which can strengthen the thinking of traditional humanism and create a new space for interpretation of contemporary literature.The third chapter discusses the philosophical value and poetic significance of the aesthetic concept of homo sacer.First of all,through the dialogue between Foucault,Hart,Negri,Butler and other contemporary Western leftist thinkers and Agamben,it highlights the philosophical value of the life power.Secondly,from the perspective of philosophical poetics,I expand the relevance of Agamben's homo sacer aesthetic political concept to modern and contemporary society,revealing the value and inadequacies of his critical theory.The conclusion is that the concept of homo sacer originated from ancient Greek and Roman philosophy has a rich aesthetic political implication.Under the view of contemporary philosophical poetics,Agamben embodies the humanistic concern for bare life with the aesthetic concept of homo sacer,enriching and deepening the Western Humanism.Therefore,the concept of homo sacer has broad prospects for literary and cultural criticism.It can prompt people to pay more attention to the poetic justice and pursue the vision of a beautiful community in the future.