Literary Criticism
Contemporary Literature
Faith Hahn and
Literary Criticism
The redemption arc, in clumsy hands, becomes cheesy and unbelievable, offending good taste more often than not. Granted. But literature has, in the past, found ways to handle this sort of plot delicately, and to great effect. After all, the question of how a person changes ought to absolutely possess a novelist – as a matter of philosophical... See more
The Lost Redemption Arc
alina stefanescu, writer
alinastefanescuwriter.com
Alina Stefanescu's personal library of writing, essays, literary criticism.
Nightwood and the "Terror of Uncertain Signs” Laurentis
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes explores the ambiguity and uncertainty of signs and language through its stark and allusive narrative, challenging the reader's expectations and understanding of meaning.
LinkIt’s hard to talk about “masterpieces” because the concept trades on a theory of aesthetics that is controversial when spelled out (aesthetic value realism; maybe even a kind of Platonism about beauty) and difficult to defend, but which we all nevertheless subscribe to intuitively.
The Cultural Decline of Literary Fiction
For all its good intentions, art that tries to minister to its audience by showcasing moral aspirants and paragons or the abject victims of political oppression produces smug, tiresome works that are failures both as art and as agitprop. Artists and critics—their laurel bearers—should take heed.
Anastasia Berg • On the Aesthetic Turn | The Point Magazine
Culture and Imperialism
An exploration of the cultural and literary manifestations of imperialism in 19th and early 20th century Britain and France, and its relationship with the formation of national identity.
oldemc.english.ucsb.eduCulture and Imperialism, Edward Said.
She has said she is against “the self-promotion obsessively imposed by the media. This demand for self-promotion diminishes the actual work of art, whatever that art may be...” Thus, she continues to absent herself from the marketing of her work. While acknowledging her position is extreme, she maintains “that a book has to absolutely make it on... See more
GD Dess • “Good books are stunning charges of vital energy” —Elena Ferrante
“The writing of the pose is the literary product of the MFA system and of Instagram in equal measure—it brings writing into the ordinary grueling business of the curation of the self which dominates advanced capitalist culture today.”