Paul de Man - The Blindness of Language and the Rhetoric of Reading

This video explores the ideas of literary critic Paul de Man, who argued that language is inherently unstable and that every act of reading is also an act of misreading.
De Man challenged the traditional view that texts have stable meanings, arguing instead that they are filled with rhetorical devices that create illusions of coherence while actually undermining meaning. He believed that meaning is always deferred and that every interpretation is shaped by the reader's own biases and assumptions.
The video also touches on de Man's controversial past, including his collaboration with a pro-Nazi newspaper during World War II. Despite this controversy, de Man's work continues to be influential in literary studies, forcing us to recognize the limitations of language and the importance of critical reading.