by Holt, Jason
Praise for Leonard Cohen and Philosophy
“Leonard Cohen and Philosophy? ‘Everybody knows’ there’s a connection: not only through his Judaism cut with classico-medievalist Québécois Catholicism and then further cut with Zen Buddhism, but also via his tutoring in the “School of Hard Knocks” that is the pop-rock balladeer scene, from coffeehouse to sports arena, from album liner-notes to concert reviews. Editor Jason Holt, himself a fine absurdist experimental poet and a professor of philosophy, draws us into examining the kōan of Cohen, so to speak, by postulating the first immediate paradox of the artist: an essential, post-modern poet, respected by ye Literature professors, and a bluesy cantor/singer, whose smoky vocals coax matrons and teens alike to toss their panties on stage. Is Cohen really both pop star and poet, and, if so, might one add the label, ‘philosopher,’ too? Holt assembles twenty scholars to ponder the ideational links between Cohen as writer/songwriter and a cosmopolitan who’s who of philosophers: Adorno, Beauvoir, Camus, Derrida, etc. Reading these superb assessments of Cohen’s (sung) words bids us read and/or hear the bard ever more intensively, to recognize in him the extension of a troubadour tradition, ex the Holy Land and Provence, marrying Judeo-Christian and ‘Pagan’ deathless notions of love, sex, ritual, and romance, blending David and Dante, Peter and Petrarch, the Song of Songs and Sade.”
—GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE, William Lyon Mackenzie King Professor of Canadian Studies, Harvard University (2013-14) & Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15)
“Cohen famously said that there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in. This book takes the brilliant light of Cohen’s words and shines it into Plato’s cave with such strength the prisoners are not only free but see the sun.”
—KIMBERLY BALTZER-JARAY, author of Doorway to the World of Essences
“Leonard Cohen and Philosophy deals with a wide range of issues, including the metaphysical world created in ‘Suzanne,’ . . . the poetics of relationships , . . . and the phenomenology of time. . . . This volume presents perspectives not to be found elsewhere and offers readers a fuller resonance with Cohen’s work.”
—DrHGuy on Heck Of A Guy: The Other Leonard Cohen Site
“Anyone interested in Leonard Cohen—whether a newcomer to his work or a longtime fan—will find much to reflect upon and savor here. Exploring Cohen’s songs, albums, poems, and novels through the prism of philosophical and religious ideas, this volume covers diverse ground—from Hellenistic philosophy to existentialism, from Stoicism to phenomenology, from literary theory to gender studies, from Judeo-Christian concepts such as katechon to Buddhist concepts such as nirvana. In the process, certain themes receive special focus, such as romantic love, authenticity, irony, perceptions of time, embodied consciousness, the Holocaust and the banality of evil, and the process of redemption. As these essays make manifestly clear, Cohen’s work brings light to many philosophical and religious concepts, even as those concepts in turn help to illuminate and complement the depth of thought and feeling in Cohen’s rich and varied lyrical, poetical work.”
—KATHLEEN LEAGUE, author of Adorno, Radical Negativity, and Cultural Critique
“It is rare for a promising young literary figure to become an influential pop music star, but that is exactly what Leonard Cohen has accomplished. The various works of the Canadian singer-songwriter-poet-novelist frequently bridge such issues as personal identity, skepticism, inter-personal relationships, and inter-cultural spiritual influences. The chapters in this book run the gamut from classical and modern philosophical contexts to Cohen’s varied masculinities and prophetic tone to his unusual singing voice and concepts of beauty, authenticity, irony, love, evil, and transcendence.”
—DURRELL BOWMAN, author of Experiencing Rush: A Listener’s Companion and co-editor of Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United
“Leonard Cohen, a Canadian literary and music icon, has provoked excitement, disgust, bewilderment and uncertainty among his fans and critics alike. Leonard Cohen and Philosophy wonderfully captures and examines all of those sentiments and more. It provides a delightful and engrossing philosophical journey through the life and art of Leonard Cohen. Jason Holt and his roster of engaging contributors make you want to travel with them—and you’ll be glad you did.”
—SHAUN P. YOUNG, editor of Jeopardy and Philosophy
Popular Culture and Philosophy®Series Editor: George A. Reisch
VOLUME 1 Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)
VOLUME 2 The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer (2001)
VOLUME 3 The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
VOLUME 4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)
VOLUME 5 The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)
VOLUME 9 Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)
VOLUME 12 Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)
VOLUME 13 Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)
VOLUME 19 Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)
VOLUME 25 The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Can’t Be Thunk (2006)
VOLUME 26 South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007)
VOLUME 30 Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007)
VOLUME 33 Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008)
VOLUME 35 Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008)
VOLUME 36 The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008)
VOLUME 37 The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008)
VOLUME 38 Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009)
VOLUME 39 Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt
VOLUME 41 Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I Am Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller
VOLUME 42 Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer
VOLUME 43 The Golden Compass and Philosophy: God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison
VOLUME 44 Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef
VOLUME 45 World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger
Volume 46 Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
Volume 47 Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
VOLUME 48 The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber
VOLUME 49 Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad
VOLUME 50 Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 51 Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (2010) Edited by Ted Richards
VOLUME 52 Manga and Philosophy: Fullmetal Metaphysician (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman
VOLUME 53 Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young
VOLUME 54 The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True, Alleges Indignant Area Professor (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye
VOLUME 55 Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside (2010) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka
VOLUME 56 Dune and P
hilosophy: Weirding Way of the Mentat (2011) Edited by Jeffery Nicholas
VOLUME 57 Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United (2011) Edited by Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman
VOLUME 58 Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter (2011) Edited by Richard Greene, George A. Reisch, and Rachel Robison-Greene
VOLUME 59 Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (2011) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 60 SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy: Soaking Up Secrets Under the Sea! (2011) Edited by Joseph J. Foy
VOLUME 61 Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy: The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind (2011) Edited by Josef Steiff
VOLUME 62 Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For (2011) Edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein
VOLUME 63 Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? (2011) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 64 The Rolling Stones and Philosophy: It’s Just a Thought Away (2012) Edited by Luke Dick and George A. Reisch
VOLUME 65 Chuck Klosterman and Philosophy: The Real and the Cereal (2012) Edited by Seth Vannatta
VOLUME 66 Neil Gaiman and Philosophy: Gods Gone Wild! (2012) Edited by Tracy L. Bealer, Rachel Luria, and Wayne Yuen
VOLUME 67 Breaking Bad and Philosophy: Badder Living through Chemistry (2012) Edited by David R. Koepsell and Robert Arp
VOLUME 68 The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Zombie Apocalypse Now (2012) Edited by Wayne Yuen
VOLUME 69 Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy: Awaken the Social Assassin Within (2012) Edited by Mark Ralkowski
VOLUME 70 Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom (2012) Edited by Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox
VOLUME 71 The Catcher in the Rye and Philosophy: A Book for Bastards, Morons, and Madmen (2012) Edited by Keith Dromm and Heather Salter
VOLUME 72 Jeopardy! and Philosophy: What Is Knowledge in the Form of a Question? (2012) Edited by Shaun P. Young
VOLUME 73 The Wire and Philosophy: This America, Man (2013) Edited by David Bzdak, Joanna Crosby, and Seth Vannatta
VOLUME 74 Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike (2013) Edited by John Huss
VOLUME 75 Psych and Philosophy: Some Dark Juju-Magumbo (2013) Edited by Robert Arp
VOLUME 76 The Good Wife and Philosophy: Temptations of Saint Alicia (2013) Edited by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray and Robert Arp
VOLUME 77 Boardwalk Empire and Philosophy: Bootleg This Book (2013) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene
VOLUME 78 Futurama and Philosophy: Bite My Shiny Metal Axiom (2013) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Shaun P. Young
VOLUME 79 Frankenstein and Philosophy: The Shocking Truth (2013) Edited by Nicolas Michaud
VOLUME 80 Ender’s Game and Philosophy: Genocide Is Child’s Play (2013) Edited by D.E. Wittkower and Lucinda Rush
VOLUME 81 How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy: Being and Awesomeness (2014) Edited by Lorenzo von Matterhorn
VOLUME 82 Jurassic Park and Philosophy: The Truth Is Terrifying (2014) Edited by Nicolas Michaud and Jessica Watkins
VOLUME 83 The Devil and Philosophy: The Nature of His Game (2014) Edited by Robert Arp
VOLUME 84 Leonard Cohen and Philosophy: Various Positions (2014) Edited by Jason Holt
IN PREPARATION:
Homeland and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Robert Arp
Adventure Time and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Nicolas Michaud
Girls and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene
Justified and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Rod Carveth and Robert Arp
For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy® books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com.
Volume 84 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy ®, edited by George A. Reisch
This book has not been prepared, authorized, or endorsed by Leonard Cohen.
To order books from Open Court, call toll-free 1-800-815-2280, or visit our website at www.opencourtbooks.com.
Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company, dba Cricket Media.
Copyright © 2014 by Carus Publishing Company, dba Cricket Media
First printing 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, A division of Cricket Media, 70 East Lake Street, Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leonard Cohen and philosophy / edited by Jason Holt.
pages cm. — (Popular culture and philosophy ; Volume 84)
Includes biographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8126-9882-4 (ebook) 1. Cohen, Leonard, 1934—Criticism and interpretation.I. Holt, Jason, 1971-.
ML.410.C734L46 2014
782.42164092—dc23
2014016534
Contents
Acknowledgments
The Pop Star–Poet Paradox
I Songs of Existence
1.Leonard Cohen as a Guide to Life
BRENDAN SHEA
2.The Existential Cohen
AGUST MAGNUSSON
3.Why Cohen’s Our Man
WIELAND SCHWANEBECK
4.The End of the World and Other Times in The Future
GARY SHAPIRO
II Songs of Beauty
5.Is Leonard Cohen a Good Singer?
JASON HOLT
6.Covering Cohen
ADAM AUCH
7.Leonard and Lorca
EDWARD WINTERS
III Songs of Love
8.Irony as Seduction
CHRISTOPHER LAUER
9.The Mystery of the Mirror
LISA WARENSKI
10.Leonard Cohen on Romantic Love
SIMON RICHES
11.Hallelujah and Atonement
BABETTE BABICH
IV Songs of Literature
12.Politics in Beautiful Losers
STEVEN BURNS
13.Writing Poetry after Auschwitz
PAWEŁ DOBROSIELSKI AND MARCIN NAPIÓRKOWSKI
14.Doom and Gloom in a Cloistered Room
LIANE HELLER
V Songs from a Mind
15.Dear Heather in a Dark Space
CHRISTOPHER KETCHAM
16.Can You Touch Someone’s Body with Your Mind?
RACHEL HALIBURTON
17.Is a Tear an Intellectual Thing?
LIAM P. DEMPSEY
VI Songs of Religion
18.The Prophetic Mr. Cohen
TIMOTHY P. JACKSON
19.Clouds of Unknowing
BERNARD WILLS
20.The Happy Memes of “Hallelujah”
PETER STONE
References
Our Hands Bloody with Commas
Index
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Series Editor George Reisch, David Ramsay Steele, Kerri Mommer, and everyone at Open Court for their encouragement and support.
“The Unified Heart” and “The Blessing to End Disunity” symbols by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1984, 2007 Leonard Cohen. Used by permission.
Excerpts from “The First Murder,” “My Old Layton,” “How It Happened in the Middle of the Day,” “A Migrating Dialogue,” “Folk,” and “Another Night with Telescope” from Flowers for Hitler by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1964 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.
Excerpts from “Psalm 25,” “Psalm 29,” and “Psalm 40” from Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1984 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.
Excerpts from “Beneath My Hands,” “The Music Crept by Us,” “You Do Not Have to Love Me,” “You Have Sweetened Your Word,” “Israel,” and “All My Life” from Stra
nger Music: Selected Poems and Songs by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1993 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.
Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288), from Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.
Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288) from Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers (US).
Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288) from Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. (UK).
A SINGER MUST DIE
Written by Leonard Cohen
© 1974 Sony/ATV Songs LLC
All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC., 424 Church Street,
Nashville, TN 37219. All rights reserved.
Used by permission.
Excerpts also from Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1993 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.
A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP
Written by Leonard Cohen & Sharon Robinson © 2001 Sony/ATV Songs LLC & Publisher(s) Unknown
All rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Songs LLC administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC., 424 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37219. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
ANTHEM
Written by Leonard Cohen
© 1992 Sony/ATV Songs LLC
All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC., 424 Church Street,
Nashville, TN 37219. All rights reserved.