Benjamin Fondane: A Poet-Philosopher Caught Between the Sunday of History and the Existential Monday examines the life and work of Benjamin Fondane, a poet and a literary critic, a philosopher and a playwright, who wrote film scripts and worked as a director on the stage as well as in films. In addition, Fondane was active in two cultures, the Romanian and the French. His existential philosophy is highly relevant to the domain of contemporary Jewish thought, and his literary activities are linked to the twentieth-century European avant-garde. This book discusses all of these topics and provides background for the Romanian and French cultural scene of the period as well as locating the writer within the context of the dramatic events of the twentieth century.

Michael Finkenthal is Research Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Johns Hopkins University and Professor Emeritus from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He divides his interests between scientific research in the natural sciences, primarily physics and astrophysics, and the humanities with a special interest in philosophy, Jewish studies, and the literary avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. In these domains, Finkenthal has published works on Ionesco, Cioran, Fondane, Shestov, Nishida Kitaro, and several authors in the second wave of the Romanian surrealist movement.