Critics at Work: Interviews 1993-2003

by Jeffrey J. Williams

Overview

Featuring interviews with nineteen leading U.S. literary and cultural critics, Critics at Work offers a unique picture of recent developments in literary studies, critical theory, American studies, gay and lesbian studies, philosophy, and other fields. It provides informative, timely, and often provocative commentary on a broad range of topics, from the state of theory today and the prospects for cultural studies to the role of public intellectuals and the place of political activism. These conversations also elicit illuminating and sometimes surprising insights into the personal and professional lives of its contributors.
Individually, each interview gives a significant overview of a critic's work. Taken together, they provide an assessment of literary and cultural studies from the establishment of theory and its diffusion, in recent years, into various cultural and identity studies. In addition to the interviews themselves, the volume includes useful short introductions to each critic's work and biography.
Interviewees: K. Anthony Appiah, Lauren Berlant, Cathy Davidson, Morris Dickstein, Stanley Fish, Barbara Foley, Nancy Fraser, Gerald Graff, Alice Kaplan, E. Ann Kaplan, Robin D.G. Kelley, Paul Lauter, Louis Menand, Richard Ohmann, Andrew Ross, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Jane Tompkins, Marianna Torgovnick, and Alan Wald.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814793893
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Series:	Cultural Front , #2
Pages:	317
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.09(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey J. Williams is Professor of English at the University of Missouri, Columbia. His books include Theory and the Novel: Narrative Reflexivity in the British Tradition and, as editor, PC Wars: Politics and Theory in the Academy and The Institution of Literature. He is also the editor of the literary and critical journal The Minnesota Review.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: The Talk of Criticism
1 Stanley Agonistes: An Interview with Stanley Fish
2 Writing in Concert: An Interview with Cathy Davidson, Alice Kaplan, Jane Tompkins, and Marianna Torgovnick
3 Only Connect: An Interview with Gerald Graff
4 English in America Revisited: An Interview with Richard Ohmann
5 Between Generations: An Interview with Morris Dickstein
6 New New York Intellectual: An Interview with Louis Menand
7 Canon and Curriculum: An Interview with Paul Lauter
8 Instituting Cultural Studies: An Interview with E. Ann Kaplan
9 Theory into Practice: An Interview with Barbara Foley
10 From the Left: An Interview with Alan Wald
11 Politics and Philosophy: An Interview with Nancy Fraser
12 The Worldly Philosopher: An Interview with K. Anthony Appiah
13 Sedgwick Unplugged: An Interview with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
vii14 Citizen Berlant: An Interview with Lauren Berlant
15 Undisciplined: An Interview with Andrew Ross
16 History and Hope: An Interview with Robin D. G. Kelley
About the Editor

Editorial Reviews

"These engaged conversations are extremely well-informed, interesting, readable, and revealing. Critics at Work is a beautifully composed work and both fun and rewarding to read."

-Vincent B. Leitch,editor of The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism

From the Publisher

"These engaged conversations are extremely well-informed, interesting, readable, and revealing. Critics at Work is a beautifully composed work and both fun and rewarding to read."

Vincent B. Leitch