TheContemporaryLeonardCohenisanexcitingnewstudythatoffersanoriginalexplanationofLeonardCohen’sstayingpowerandhisvariouspositionsinmusic,literature,andart.ThedeathofLeonardCohenreceivedmediaattentionacrosstheglobe,andthisinternationalstarremainsdeartotheheartsofmanyfans.ThisbookexaminesthediversityofCohen’sartinthewakeofhisdeath,positioninghimasacontemporary,multi-mediaartistwhosecareerwasframedbythetwentieth-centuryandneoliberalcontextsofitsproduction.Theauthorsborrowtheideaof“thecontemporary“especiallyfromphilosophyandarthistory,applyingittoCohenforthefirsttime--notonlytothedrawingsthatheincludedinsomeofhisbooksbutalsotohissongs,poems,andnovels.ThisideahelpsustounderstandCohen’stechniquesafterhispostmodernexperimentswithpoemsandnovelsinthe1960sand1970s.Italsohelpsustoseehowhismostrecentsongs,poems,anddrawingsdevelopedoutofthatearliermaterial,includingearlierconnectionstootherwritersandmusicians.Philosophically,“thecontemporary“alsosoundsoutthedeepfeelingsthatCohen’sworkstillgeneratesinreadersandlisteners.Whetherthesefeelingsarespiritualorsecular,sincereorironic,wegetthempartlyfromthesenseoftimelinessandthesenseoftimelessnessinCohen’slyricsandimages,whichspeaktoourownlivesandtimes,ourownstrugglesandsurvival.Fromasetofinternationalcollaborators,TheContemporaryLeonardCohendeliversanappreciativebutcriticalexaminationofoneofourdarkluminaries.
