Maurice Blanchot, Charlotte Mandell (translator) · 1959 · PDF · Calibre ID 3315
Resurfaced in A Crowd Still to Come (2026-10-13).
Role in the triad
The myth and its class structure: Ulysses at the mast, the oarsmen who watch
Why this book
‘The Song of the Sirens’ supplies the song ‘only still to come’, Ulysses’ privileged hearing, the oarsmen’s right only to watch, and the Sirens ‘conquered by the power of the technique’; the closing essay on Mallarmé’s Livre makes the reader an ‘operator’. Source of the Mallarmé Rancière politicizes.
Quotations
Verified against the book’s own text on the day of the reading.
- “The Sirens: it seems they did indeed sing, but in an unfulfilling way, one that only gave a sign of where the real sources and real happiness of song opened.” (p. 3)
- “it was also a means of navigation” (p. 4)
- “His is a fortunate and secure cowardliness, based on privilege, which places him outside of the common condition” (p. 4)
- “After the Sirens had been conquered by the power of the technique that always tries to play safely with unreal (inspired) powers” (p. 5)
- “We cannot deny that Ulysses heard a little of what Ahab saw, but he held firm in the midst of hearing” (p. 8)
- “The presence of a song only still to come.” (p. 9)
- “Mallarmé calls the reader ‘the operator.’” (p. 242)
Themes
Ahab · Homer · imaginary · Livre · Mallarmé · narrative · oarsmen · operator · privilege · siren · song to come · technique · Ulysses