The charge of »Ressentiment« can in today's world - less from traditionally conservative quarters than from the neo-positivist discourses of particular forms of liberalism - be used to undermine the argumentative credibility of political opponents, dissidents and those who call for greater »justice«. The essays in this volume draw on the broad spectrum of cultural discourse on »Ressentiment«, both in historical and contemporary contexts. Starting with its conceptual genesis, the essays also show contemporary nuances of »Ressentiment« as well as its influence on literary and philosophical discourse in the 20th century.

• Contents 6
• Acknowledgements 7
• Introduction: Towards a History of Ressentiment 8
• Introduction: The Critical Focus of Re-thinking Ressentiment 31
• The Question of Resentment in Western and Confucian Philosophy 40
• Ressentiment as Moral Imperative: Jean Améry’s Nietzschean Revaluation of Victim Morality 60
• Ressentiment beyond Nietzsche and Améry: H. G. Adler between Literary Ressentiment and Divine Grace 78
• Contagion 94
• Contemporary media coverage of protest movements in Germany and the charge of Ressentiment, with particular focus on “Stuttgart 122
• Specular Ressentiment San-Antonio, or the Art of Faking Resentment 140
• Criticism or Ressentiment ? Literary Studies and the Politics of Interdisciplinarity 156
• Ressentiment and Dissensus: The Place of Critique in the Contemporary Academy 174
• About the Authors 214
• Index of Names 216