Abstract
This essay looks at the apparent absence of melancholy in the thought and writings of Jean-Luc Nancy. It is not an insignificant absence, given that Nancy does regret it especially in light of an intellectual history that links melancholy to the idea of genius. In other words, Nancy worries that an absence of melancholy might be a symptom of a lack of genius in him. This essay proposes, however, that it is possible that Nancy's thought and writings might suggest an understanding of genius without melancholia. To elucidate the latter, this essay will return to The Literary Absolute, a work Nancy coauthored with Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, to elicit the notion of genius according to them. Following the work of Eve Sedgwick, it will also consider this genius without melancholia a “reparative genius”: a genius beyond dark and pessimistic terms but one that has hope, optimism, and love as its horizon.
