Lévinas’s Conception of Art and Poetry

Focusing on the development of Lévinas' conception of art, the article describes the gradual reassessment of his original view, which sees a work of art as an 'eternal' stoppage of time. At a later stage, by contrast, the work of art is conceived as an 'expression' of the desire for the Other, that is, as a reference to the dimension from which diachrony stems, and also as an appeal to the responsibility for the Other. This is poetry, which makes a unanimous reference to the reality of time. Poetry renounces all synchronized objects intended by the consciousness. Poetry is the evocation of the Other, which manifests itself in the face of another person. As a refutation of the expression of objects, poetry points to the 'immemorial past' and 'pure future' of the Other.