"Il Ya" And Maurice Blanchot's Dispelling Writing

Throughout Maurice Blanchot's literary pursuits,the interpretation of "il y a" acts as an important concept which cannot be ignored.It emerged from the idea of Emmanuel Levinas who defined "il y a" as "existence prior to existence" or "existence without existents" as opposed to the concept of "Being" proposed by Martin Heidegger.Blanchot introduces this philosophical concept to the realm of literature,expounds it with his "the other night" theory,and points out the connections between these two.Moreover,because "il y a" reveals the relationship between subject and existence,it guides Blanchot to rethink about the relationship between writing and subject and exerts a profound influence on his outlook of writing.Blanchot's notion on literary works,language and narrative takes root in il y a's negation of subject.The distinctive features exemplified by Blanchet's literary fictions are illustrative of his writing outlook.Through the alienation of time and space,shift of narrative voices and erasure of images,the materiality of the text itself are further manifested.With Blanchet's narration techniques,the power of destroying subject contained by "il y a" can be fully displayed.For Blanchot,the negative writing conception under the influence of "il y a" has a further significance.The death of subject caused by "il y a" leads Blanchot to discover the relationship between the subject and the other.He believes that death which is an interruption of subjectivity means an absolute impossibility.Based on this,the relationship between the subject and the other must be double unbalanced and irreversible,which is defined by Blanchot as "neuter".Different from Levinas' s finding a sacred transcendental path going towards the other from "il y a" and completely deviating from "neuter",what Blanchot insists instead is "neuter" of "il y a".Blanchot relies on "il y a" to expel the subject in reality and negates the subject in writing in order to construct the space of literature and restore the ontological status of literature.