On the (New) Baroque explores the re-invention of the
original European Baroque, primarily within the cultural,
literary, and philosophical traditions of late-Modernism in
Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin-America. In a highly
original and compelling re-interpretation of modernity,
Lambert argues that the frequency of the return of the
baroque as a major category expresses an often hidden
principle of postmodernism in its various national and
cultural incarnations, a principle that challenges the
historical centrality of the tradition of Anglo-American
modernism.
In his review of the Return
of the Baroque in Modern Culture, originally published
by Continuum Books in 2004, Professor Ronald Bogue of
University of Georgia praised Lambert’s treatment as "an
astute and highly original account of the Baroque and its
echoes in modernity … that is sure to be the center of
discussion in a number of fields for years to come." In this
new paperback edition that will become more widely available
to a North American audience, Lambert returns to add a new
author’s forward, a coda on "New Baroque Construction," as
well as an appendix on Argentinean writer Jorge-Luis Borges
that appeared as a chapter in the author’s The
Non-Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze (Continuum 2004).
Other writers, philosophers, and critics examined in this
study include Walter Benjamin, Paul de Man, Jacques Derrida,
Eugenio d’Ors, Michel Foucault, Gerard Genette, Jose-Antonio
Maravall, Octavio Paz, and Cuban writers Alejo Carpentier
and Severo Sarduy.
