Rita Felski is a distinguished scholar whose work interrogates the relationship between literature, aesthetics, and cultural theory. She delves into the complexities of modernity and postmodernity, exploring how artistic expression shapes our understanding of the world. Her critical approach offers profound insights into the enduring power of literary and cultural analysis.
Exploring the intersection of fashion, femininity, and modernity, this interdisciplinary collection delves into how clothing and style have influenced societal perceptions and practices surrounding women's identities. Through various scholarly perspectives, it reveals the complex relationship between fashion trends and cultural shifts, highlighting the transformative power of attire in shaping women's roles throughout history.
Contemporary theory is full of references to the modern and the postmodern.
How useful are these terms? What do they mean? Drawing on cultural studies and
critical theory, Rita Felski examines a range of themes central to debates
about postmodern culture, including changing meanings of class. schovat popis
The diverse motives and mysteries of why we read are explored in this
groundbreaking new work by Rita Felski. Challenging many time-worn homilies
and theories put forth in contemporary literary criticism, Uses of Literature
offers refreshing new insights into the purpose and value of reading
literature.
Why must critics unmask and demystify literary works? Why do they believe that language is always withholding some truth, that the critic's task is to reveal the unsaid or repressed? In this book, Rita Felski examines critique, the dominant form of interpretation in literary studies, and situates it as but one method among many, a method with strong allure - but also definite limits
Felski presents a critical account of current American and European feminist literary theory, and analyzes contemporary fiction by women to show that no theorist can identify a specifically "female" or "feminine" kind of writing without reference to what gender means at a given historical moment. She argues that the idea of a feminist aesthetic is a non-issue needlessly pursued by feminists. She calls for a consideration of the social and cultural context in which these texts were produced and received, and demonstrates her method of an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of literature which can integrate literary and social theory. ISBN 0-674-06894-7: $25.00; ISBN 0-674-06895-5 (pbk.): $9.95
How does a novel entice or enlist us? How does a song surprise or seduce us? Why do we bristle when a friend belittles a book we love, or fall into a funk when a favored TV series comes to an end? What characterizes the aesthetic experiences of feeling captivated by works of art? In Hooked, Rita Felski challenges the ethos of critical aloofness that is a part of modern intellectuals’ self-image. The result is sure to be as widely read as Felski’s book, The Limits of Critique. Wresting the language of affinity away from accusations of sticky sentiment and manipulative marketing, Felski argues that “being hooked” is as fundamental to the appreciation of high art as to the enjoyment of popular culture. Hooked zeroes in on three attachment devices that connect audiences to works of art: identification, attunement, and interpretation. Drawing on examples from literature, film, music, and painting—from Joni Mitchell to Matisse, from Thomas Bernhard to Thelma and Louise—Felski brings the language of attachment into the academy. Hooked returns us to the fundamentals of aesthetic experience, showing that the social meanings of artworks are generated not just by critics, but also by the responses of captivated audiences.
