FRINK Linked Data Fragments server

Matches in SemOpenAlex for { <https://semopenalex.org/work/W2043178101> ?p ?o ?g. }

• W2043178101 endingPage "419" @default.
• W2043178101 startingPage "405" @default.
• W2043178101 abstract "Philosophy to the Rescue Joshua Landy Why Does Literature Matter?, by Frank B. Farrell ; 266 pp. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004, $39.95. Why Literature Matters In the Twenty-First Century, by Mark William Roche ; 308 pp. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, $32.00. I For those of us who are still in love with literature, it is hard to know quite which way to react to the recent spate of books rushing gallantly to its defense.1 Should we literary folk be flattered and grateful that philosophers are lining up to lend us new resources with which to justify our activities, or horrified that we ourselves have become constitutionally incapable of doing so? Should we join the defenders of serious and passionate literary criticism in celebrating its rebirth, or worry that, unbeknownst to themselves, they are singing what will turn out to have been its requiem? To change the metaphor slightly, are the well-meaning eulogists preventing literary criticism from throwing itself off the bridge, or just shedding helpless tears over a slowly closing sea? One thing, at least, seems certain: whether successfully or not, literary criticism has indeed made every effort to commit suicide. (In their very different books, Frank B. Farrell and Mark William Roche both begin from this same point). If fewer undergraduates today are taking classes and majoring in English, French, Comparative Literature, et al., [End Page 405] then those disciplines are themselves in part to blame. What on earth could we have expected when we began telling our students that literary texts do nothing more than demonstrate their own failure—or succeed, at best, in the oppression of the weak? (Consider Edward Saïd's now infamous claim that the main purpose of nineteenth-century British novelists was to keep the empire more or less in place.2 As a British citizen, I have always found this intriguing: if only we had produced more fiction, might we not have lost India?) We should, of course, beware exaggeration: much interesting and important work has been done in the last forty years, including in the realm of feminist theory (Farrell, unlike Roche and—more famously—Harold Bloom,3 has the merit of separating off feminism from the tendencies he takes to task). Still, it's hard to argue with the claim that by and large, literary scholars have lost the ability, and often the very desire, to make their own activity seem worthwhile. What encouragement am I now at liberty to give, for example, to someone considering a sustained foray into Marcel Proust? If I say that all literature is an allegory of its own failure to signify, then I haven't offered a particularly compelling case even for starting the book, since any other text would do just as well (why not read a haiku and save time?), let alone for finishing it (Paul de Man himself talks mostly about the first hundred pages, offhandedly adding that the further text of Proust's novel . . . responds perfectly to an extended application of this pattern).4 Similarly, if I say that all literature is ideology, a mask for capitalist and imperialist propaganda, then I have at most inspired one or two investigative-journalist types to take a sideways look at the novel, carefully handling it with protective gloves as they do so, but it is unlikely that I have unleashed great hordes on the local library. And if I say that In Search of Lost Time is illuminating as a symptom of certain historical forces, then I risk being told, quite legitimately, that less sophisticated literary works—and better yet, works that are altogether nonliterary—are a much more useful place to start. None of this really mattered when high theory first came into vogue. At that time, its practitioners could count on an audience who already cared about literature; for such readers, the notion of literature's inevitable failure was an added thrill. Literary scholars must have assumed that bright-eyed students, passionately in love with literature for all kinds of naïve reasons, would continue endlessly to stream into their classes, ready to be disillusioned in all kinds of salutary and exciting ways..." @default.
• W2043178101 created "2016-06-24" @default.
• W2043178101 creator A5048128471 @default.
• W2043178101 date "2007-01-01" @default.
• W2043178101 modified "2023-10-17" @default.
• W2043178101 title "Philosophy to the Rescue" @default.
• W2043178101 cites W125350109 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W1570050318 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W1965703784 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W1979373344 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W1983188187 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2001549900 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2027922231 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2043320274 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2056453232 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2067562289 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2124042760 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2313235936 @default.
• W2043178101 cites W2489140767 @default.
• W2043178101 doi "https://doi.org/10.1353/phl.2007.0028" @default.
• W2043178101 hasPublicationYear "2007" @default.
• W2043178101 type Work @default.
• W2043178101 sameAs 2043178101 @default.
• W2043178101 citedByCount "2" @default.
• W2043178101 countsByYear W20431781012013 @default.
• W2043178101 countsByYear W20431781012019 @default.
• W2043178101 crossrefType "journal-article" @default.
• W2043178101 hasAuthorship W2043178101A5048128471 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C107038049 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C111472728 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C11171543 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C118552586 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C124952713 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C138885662 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C142362112 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C142932270 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C144024400 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C15744967 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C18296254 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C27206212 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C2777935057 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C2778311575 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C2780362631 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C2780876879 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C2781466463 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C74916050 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C7991579 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConcept C95457728 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C107038049 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C111472728 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C11171543 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C118552586 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C124952713 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C138885662 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C142362112 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C142932270 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C144024400 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C15744967 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C18296254 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C27206212 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C2777935057 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C2778311575 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C2780362631 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C2780876879 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C2781466463 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C74916050 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C7991579 @default.
• W2043178101 hasConceptScore W2043178101C95457728 @default.
• W2043178101 hasIssue "2" @default.
• W2043178101 hasLocation W20431781011 @default.
• W2043178101 hasOpenAccess W2043178101 @default.
• W2043178101 hasPrimaryLocation W20431781011 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W1493515365 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W1989698946 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2098177480 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2313003875 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2350852339 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2357469341 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2384591463 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2393457115 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2748952813 @default.
• W2043178101 hasRelatedWork W2281782606 @default.
• W2043178101 hasVolume "31" @default.
• W2043178101 isParatext "false" @default.
• W2043178101 isRetracted "false" @default.
• W2043178101 magId "2043178101" @default.
• W2043178101 workType "article" @default.