Estranging the familiar : toward a revitalized critical writing

書誌事項

Estranging the familiar : toward a revitalized critical writing

G. Douglas Atkins

University of Georgia Press, c1992

  • : pbk

大学図書館所蔵 件 / 7

この図書・雑誌をさがす

注記

Includes bibliographical references and index

内容説明・目次

巻冊次

ISBN 9780820314525

内容説明

In "Estranging the Familiar", G. Douglas Atkins addresses the often lamented state of scholarly and critical writing as he argues for a criticism that is at once theoretically informed and personal. The revitalised critical writing he advocated may entail - but is not limited to - a return to the essay, the form critical writing once took and the form that is now enjoying a resurgence of popularity and excellence. Atkins contends that to reach a general audience, criticism must move away from the impersonalism of modern criticism and contemporary theory without embracing the old-fashioned essay. "The venerable familiar essay may remain the basis", Atkins writes, "but its conventional openness, receptivity, and capaciousness must extend to theory, philosophy, and the candour that seems to mark the tail-end of the 20th century". In noting the timeliness, if not the necessity, of a return to the essay, Atkins also considers our culture's parallel, "return to the personal". When the essay combines good writing with the concerns of the personal, Atkins says, it becomes a form of criticism that is readable, vital, and potentially attractive to a large readership. Atkins hopes critics will tap into the revitalised interest the essay now enjoys without ignoring the considerable insights and advances of contemporary theory. He argues that, despite claims to the contrary, there is no inherent incompatibility between the essay and modern theory. As Atkins considers various experiments in critical writing from Plato to the present, notably feminist interest in the personal and autobiographical, he contends that these attempts, although undeniably important, fall short of the desired goal when they emphasise the merely expressive and neglect the artful quality good writing can bring to personal criticism. The final third of the book consists of a series of experiments in critical writing that represent the author's own attempts to bridge the gap between theory and popular criticism, between an academic and a general audience. In essays that illustrate the rhetorical power of the form, Atkins describes the reciprocal relationship between his life experience and a reading of "The Odyssey", explains the role that theory has played in his personal development, and chronicles his attempts to find a voice as a writer.
巻冊次

: pbk ISBN 9780820314532

内容説明

In ""Estranging the Familiar"", G. Douglas Atkins addresses the often lamented state of scholarly and critical writing as he argues for a criticism that is at once theoretically informed and personal. The revitalised critical writing he advocated may entail - but is not limited to - a return to the essay, the form critical writing once took and the form that is now enjoying a resurgence of popularity and excellence. Atkins contends that to reach a general audience, criticism must move away from the impersonalism of modern criticism and contemporary theory without embracing the old-fashioned essay. ""The venerable familiar essay may remain the basis"", Atkins writes, ""but its conventional openness, receptivity, and capaciousness must extend to theory, philosophy, and the candor that seems to mark the tail-end of the 20th century"". In noting the timeliness, if not the necessity, of a return to the essay, Atkins also considers our culture's parallel, ""return to the personal"". When the essay combines good writing with the concerns of the personal, Atkins says, it becomes a form of criticism that is readable, vital, and potentially attractive to a large readership. Atkins hopes critics will tap into the revitalised interest the essay now enjoys without ignoring the considerable insights and advances of contemporary theory. He argues that, despite claims to the contrary, there is no inherent incompatibility between the essay and modern theory. As Atkins considers various experiments in critical writing from Plato to the present, notably feminist interest in the personal and autobiographical, he contends that these attempts, although undeniably important, fall short of the desired goal when they emphasise the merely expressive and neglect the artful quality good writing can bring to personal criticism. The final third of the book consists of a series of experiments in critical writing that represent the author's own attempts to bridge the gap between theory and popular criticism, between an academic and a general audience. In essays that illustrate the rhetorical power of the form, Atkins describes the reciprocal relationship between his life experience and a reading of ""The Odyssey"", explains the role that theory has played in his personal development, and chronicles his attempts to find a voice as a writer.

「Nielsen BookData」 より

詳細情報

  • NII書誌ID(NCID)
    BA19752730
  • ISBN
    • 0820314528
    • 0820314536
  • LCCN
    91042648
  • 出版国コード
    us
  • タイトル言語コード
    eng
  • 本文言語コード
    eng
  • 出版地
    Athens
  • ページ数/冊数
    xiv, 203 p.
  • 大きさ
    24 cm
  • 分類
  • 件名
ページトップへ