David hume one of the best accounts of postmodern epistemology that ive read comes from barbara herrnstein smiths contingencies of value. In this interview with barbara herrnstein smith, known for her important contributions to literary theory and for an unusual interdisciplinary career, interviewer janell watson gives a brief account of smith s early interests in philosophy and science, her career as a teacher of comparative literature at bennington college, the university of pennsylvania, and duke university, and her. On free wheeling careers an interview with barbara herrnstein smith barbara herrnstein smith, known for her contributions to literary the ory and for an unusual interdisciplinary career, is braxton craven pro fessor of comparative literature and english emerita at duke univer sity. Smith is a wellknown writer, most particularly for her 1983 work on critical theory, contingencies of value.
Mitchell and barbara herrnstein smith argue that value is roughly equivalent to meaning, and is thus multiple, diverse, and contingent. Barbara herrnstein smith s book confronts the conceptual problems and sociopolitical conflicts at the heart of these issues and raises their discussion to a new level of sophistication. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Plus easytounderstand solutions written by experts for thousands of other textbooks. One of the best accounts of postmodern epistemology that ive read comes from barbara herrnstein smiths contingencies of value. Here is where i believe the value in evaluating the value of childrens literature may lie. Feminist challenges to the literary canon gilles deleuze and felix guattari, what is a minor literature. She provides a plausible and thorough explanation of what a postaxiological epistemology would look like, and offers a series of effective rebuttals to what the objectivists decry as relativism. The norton anthology of theory and criticism is the gold standard for anyone who wishes to understand the development and current state of literary theory. Notes 1 see, for example, chris baldick, the social mission of english criticism, 18481932 1983, and brian doyle, the invention of english in robert colls and philip dodd, eds, englishness. Socratic teaching under postmodern conditions, philosophical. Alternative perspectives for critical theory 1988, belief and.
These anxieties of allegiance manifest themselves in the paradoxical tensions of yeatss commemorative verses for the middleclass, catholic easter rebels and for the angloaristocratic major robert gregory, who died as an airman in the first world war. In this study, we apply this notion to the reading of student texts in a college composition portfolio assessment. These anxieties of allegiance manifest themselves in the paradoxical tensions of yeatss commemorative verses for the middleclass, catholic easter rebels and for the angloaristocratic major robert gregory, who died as an. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. In the value of virginia woolf, madelyn detloff explores the writings of virginia woolf from her early texts to her challenging and inventive novels. The value of much of the discourse on canons has been vitiated largely because its participants have consistently neglected or evaded the realm in which all cultural evaluations must logically be situateda complex, variable, and heterogeneous ground of cultural history. Barbara herrnstein smiths critique of objectivism in epistemology, contingencies of value, locates the problem exactly where it belongs. In contrast to their almost obsessive concern with questions of interpretation and meaning, recent aes thetics and literary theory have had very little to say. Constitution states that congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. Conflicting views on reading literature summary organized around three major questions of contemporary literary studies why we read literature, what we read in literature courses, and how we read or interpret literary texts falling into theory gives students a clear sense of what is at stake in current. Barbara herrnstein smith, whose contin gencies of value introduced the term contingent into our every day academic vocabulary, explores the ways that unspecified or transcendent assertions of value, such as bennetts, work politi cally. The cox report and the university, critical quarterly.
Semantic scholar profile for barbara herrnstein smith, with 20 highly influential citations and 108 scientific research papers. Alternative perspectives for critical theory barbara herrnstein smith download bok. The sceptic still continues to reason and believe, even tho he asserts that he cannot defend his reason by reason. Alternative perspectives for critical theory 1988, chapter 2.
Jun 01, 2017 barbara herrnstein smith s critique of objectivism in epistemology, contingencies of value, locates the problem exactly where it belongs. Barbara herrnstein smith charges of abandoned standards issue from government offices. It is typical of smith that she can accommodate such questions of reality and truth, without selfcontradiction, in the course of a defence and explication of what is variously called scepticism, perspectivism, constructivism or postmodernism, but for which relativism seems a. This essay employs barbara herrnstein smiths notion of contingencies of value, the idea that evaluations of text vary because our readings take place in specific contexts and are shaped by cultural and historical exigencies. The first world war and the easter rebellion of 1916 both posed problems of ethnicity, class, and national allegiance for w. Traditionalists contend that the canon is composed of works that have stood the test of time.
Barbara herrnstein smith, contingencies of value lillian s. The debate has changed, that is, because the very existence of value has come into question. Born in new york city, smith was equally passionate about. Our first example is taken from the arguments of a postmodern critic, barbara herrnstein smith in contingencies of value 1988. The cox report and the university, critical quarterly 10. In this work, she attempts to situate the various liberal, conservative, and other views of values within her metametatheory of contingencies, an economics influenced theoretical approach. Herrnstein smith points out, for example, the weakness of conflating socially constructed gender roles with hardwired sexual characteristics which, incidentally, she also holds to be products of discourse. Belief and resistance by barbara herrnstein smith, 9780674064911, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Debating the canon provides a primarysource overview of these ongoing arguments. On friday, february 11, the franklin humanities institute presents science, scientism, and antiscience in the humanities. Project muse literary value and the wings of the dove. Barbara herrnstein smiths book confronts the conceptual problems and sociopolitical conflicts at the heart of these issues and raises their discussion to a new level of sophistication.
Commodification, culture and tourism robert shepherd, 2002. You will get your 1st month of bartleby for free when you bundle with these textbooks where solutions are. Offering 185 pieces 31 of them new by 148 authors 18 of them new, the norton anthology of theory and criticism, second edition, is more comprehensive, and more varied, in its selection. Detloff demonstrates why woolf has enduring value for our own time, both as a defender of modernist experimentation and as a novelist of innovation and poetic vision who also exhibits moments of. Falling into theory conflicting views on reading literature. Alternative perspec tives for critical theory cambridge. She provides a plausible and thorough explanation of what a postaxiological epistemology would look like, and offers. The norton anthology of theory and criticism book, 2010. Some thoughts on barbara herrnstein smiths contingencies. Introduction the intellectual property clause of the u. Our modernist commitment to objective positive knowledge, to truth as the correct representation of reality, is a value, assembled from all manner of contingent choices colored by class, gender, and other. Who would say that literary criticism makes judgments according to objective standards, a natural norm of taste, or a pure, disinterested cognitive faculty.
Barbara herrnstein smith 1932 from contingencies of value, contingencies of value 1988 pages 153156. The exile of evaluation it is a curious feature of literary studies in america that one of the most venerable, central, theoretically significant, and pragmatically inescapable set of problems relating to literature has not been a subject of serious inquiry for the past fifty years. In this interview with barbara herrnstein smith, known for her important contributions to literary theory and for an unusual interdisciplinary career, interviewer janell watson gives a brief account of smiths early interests in philosophy and science, her career as a teacher of comparative literature at bennington college, the university of pennsylvania, and duke. This is because the belief that tourism causes cultural commodification is based on a largely unexamined reliance on marxs labor theory of value, source of what barbara herrnstein smith has referred to as a double discourse of value, in which an intrinsic and sacred cultural sphere of value is presumed to circulate independent of an. The clause displays an elegantly interwoven parallel construction much favored in eighteenth. Barbara herrnstein smith, from contingencies of value immanuel kant, from critique of judgment mary wollstonecraft, from a vindication of the rights of woman. Iirelativist stances, virtues and vices aristotelian. This essay begins with the question, is doing literary criticism a process of making value judgments. Not to forget that other key cardcarrying relativists across the humanitiesfrom barbara herrnstein smith 2018, p. Some thoughts on barbara herrnstein smiths contingencies of.
The ahistoricity of the debate has saddled it with a heavy. Barbara hernnstein smiths book, however, sets a new standard. The stability of literariness like other contemporary critics, such as fish 1980, 1989 and eagleton 1983, smith. The norton anthology of theory and criticism william e.
Many of these contributions to this debate have achieved. Polemical without being rancorous, contingencies of value mounts a powerful critique of traditional conceptions of value, taste, judgment, and justification. Doing literary criticism and making value judgments. For an analysis of the subject as constituted by a heterogeneity of interests, see barbara herrnstein smith, contingencies of value cambridge, ma.
A symposium in honor of barbara herrnstein smith information from the fhi listserv. May 01, 20 in this interview with barbara herrnstein smith, known for her important contributions to literary theory and for an unusual interdisciplinary career, interviewer janell watson gives a brief account of smiths early interests in philosophy and science, her career as a teacher of comparative literature at bennington college, the university of pennsylvania, and duke university, and her. In the book, she presents a relativistic theory of value, contending that value emerges from a dynamic process of changing and interacting variables. Barbara herrnstein smith, 2005 edinburgh university press ltd 22 george square, edinburgh typeset in adobe sabon by servis filmsetting ltd, manchester, and printed and bound in great britain by mpg books ltd, bodmin, cornwall a cip record for this book is available from the british library isbn 0 7486 2023 0 hardback the right of barbara.
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