Critical Theory And The Canon

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Overview

Kolbas stakes out new territory in assessing the war over literary canon formation, a subject that contemporary polemicists have devoted much ink to. Throughout this succinct manuscript, Kolbas ranges through the sociology and politics of culture, aesthetic theory, and literary theory to develop his point that texts not only must should be situated in the historical and material conditions of their production, but also evaluated for their very real aesthetic content. One reason the is an important issue, Kolbas contends, is that the canon is not simply enclosed in the ivory tower of academia; its effects are apparent in a much wider field of cultural production and use. He begins by critiquing the conservative humanist and liberal pluralist positions on the canon, which either assiduously avoid any sociological explanation of the canon or treat texts as stand-ins for particular ideologies. Kolbas is sympathetic to the arguments of Bourdieu et. al. regarding positioning the canon in a wider "field of cultural production" than the university, but argues that theirs are purely sociological explanations of aesthetics (i.e., there is no objective aesthetic content) that ignore art's autonomous realm, which he argues -- a la Adorno -- exists (if only problematically). Ultimately, he argues that critical theory, particularly the arguments of Adorno on aesthetics, offers the most fruitful path for evaluating the canon, despite the approach's clear flaws. His vision is a sociological one, but one that treats the components of the canon as possessing objective aesthetic content, albeit content that shifts in meaning over history.
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Editorial Reviews

Booknews
Kolbas has substantially modified and rewritten his doctoral thesis for Cambridge University, which argues that the two main arguments over the western literary canon<-->it is the pillar of western culture and must be retained; it is a remnant of oppression by dead, white European, males and must be enlarged<-- >have been both historically and politically suspect, largely for neglecting the material processes of canon formation. They both, he says, assume that literary canons are devised by academic elites, who can alter them at will, and that they represent specific cultures or social groups. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780813398136
  • Publisher: Westview Press
  • Publication date: 4/1/2001
  • Pages: 196
  • Lexile: 1790L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 0.45 (w) x 6.00 (h) x 9.00 (d)

Meet the Author

E. Dean Kolbas received his doctorate from Cambridge University. He now lives and writes in the Boston area.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction 1
Pt. 1 History, Politics, and Culture
1 Canons Ancient and Modern 11
2 The Contemporary Canon Debate 25
3 Cultural Reproduction 59
Pt. 2 Critical Aesthetic Theory
4 Critical Theory and Canonical Art 83
5 Subverting the Canon: Sociology, New Historicism, and Cultural Studies 103
6 The Boundaries of a Critical Theory of Canon Formation 125
Conclusion: A Canon of Art, a Politics of Ends 139
Notes 145
References 167
Index 179
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