The Limits of Critique

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book The Limits of Critique by Rita Felski, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rita Felski ISBN: 9780226294179
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: October 20, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Rita Felski
ISBN: 9780226294179
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: October 20, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

Why must critics unmask and demystify literary works? Why do they believe that language is always withholding some truth, that the critic’s task is to reveal the unsaid or repressed? In this book, Rita Felski examines critique, the dominant form of interpretation in literary studies, and situates it as but one method among many, a method with strong allure—but also definite limits.

Felski argues that critique is a sensibility best captured by Paul Ricoeur’s phrase “the hermeneutics of suspicion.” She shows how this suspicion toward texts forecloses many potential readings while providing no guarantee of rigorous or radical thought. Instead, she suggests, literary scholars should try what she calls “postcritical reading”: rather than looking behind a text for hidden causes and motives, literary scholars should place themselves in front of it and reflect on what it suggests and makes possible.

By bringing critique down to earth and exploring new modes of interpretation, The Limits of Critique offers a fresh approach to the relationship between artistic works and the social world.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Why must critics unmask and demystify literary works? Why do they believe that language is always withholding some truth, that the critic’s task is to reveal the unsaid or repressed? In this book, Rita Felski examines critique, the dominant form of interpretation in literary studies, and situates it as but one method among many, a method with strong allure—but also definite limits.

Felski argues that critique is a sensibility best captured by Paul Ricoeur’s phrase “the hermeneutics of suspicion.” She shows how this suspicion toward texts forecloses many potential readings while providing no guarantee of rigorous or radical thought. Instead, she suggests, literary scholars should try what she calls “postcritical reading”: rather than looking behind a text for hidden causes and motives, literary scholars should place themselves in front of it and reflect on what it suggests and makes possible.

By bringing critique down to earth and exploring new modes of interpretation, The Limits of Critique offers a fresh approach to the relationship between artistic works and the social world.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Combating Jihadism by Rita Felski
Cover of the book On Sunspots by Rita Felski
Cover of the book After the Map by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Quantifying Life by Rita Felski
Cover of the book The Global Pigeon by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Oppenheimer by Rita Felski
Cover of the book The Man with the Getaway Face by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Why Are You Here and Not Somewhere Else by Rita Felski
Cover of the book The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 29 by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Kindly Inquisitors by Rita Felski
Cover of the book African Successes, Volume IV by Rita Felski
Cover of the book The Cultural Turn in U. S. History by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Torture and the Law of Proof by Rita Felski
Cover of the book Looking Forward by Rita Felski
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy