Critical Intercultural Communication Studies

ISSN: 1528-6118

Within Communication, culture is broadly understood as a meaning-making process that evidences itself within discourse, mediated forms, and interactional instances to constitute group autonomy. Within that meaning-making process, intercultural communication considers relationships between institutions and their societies, media and their audiences, and peoples and their communities. The formalized study of intercultural communication has always been problematic; like most disciplines and subdisciplines, its usefulness and limitations emerge from the historical context in which it is studied. Developed after World War II, intercultural communication initially served as an applied area of study to train U.S. governmental and business entities for relationships beyond U.S. borders. Then, out of the struggles of the U.S. Civil Rights era, intercultural communication expanded to concern itself with relationships between differing racial and ethnic groups. By the turn of the twentieth century, some intercultural communication scholars had fully embraced studying the differential power relations between nations, communities, and individuals thus catalyzing a body of research known as critical intercultural communication. Now, heading into the middle of the twenty-first century, critical intercultural communication has come into focus as an area of study that emphasizes, explains, and seeks to resolve power relations within specific contexts, applying theories and modes of inquiry suited to contemporary issues understood within their ongoing historical dynamics. As our institutions and their societies, mediated forms and their corresponding audiences, and communities and their members continue to alter and morph, critical intercultural communication adapts to interpret and envision progressive, socially just ways forward. This series, therefore, invites scholarship that challenges status quo cultural constitutions by recognizing and problematizing hegemonic modes of belonging and being. Spanning a range of contexts, critical intercultural communication considers symbolic and performative orders across local, national, hemispheric and transnational circuits. Moreover, this series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that innovate ontological and epistemological forms, advancing a range of systematic intellectual approaches to cultural transformation and validation. The series is particularly interested in works grounded in BIPOC, decolonial, feminist, queer, crip, and/or kink perspectives that construct claims, knowledges, and theories capable of guiding society toward new social justice knowings.

45 publications

Black Studies and Critical Thinking

ISSN: 1947-5985

Black Studies and Critical Thinking is an interdisciplinary series which examines the intellectual traditions of and cultural contributions made by people of African descent throughout the world. Whether it is in literature, art, music, science, or academics, these contributions are vast and far-reaching. As we work to stretch the boundaries of knowledge and understanding of issues critical to the Black experience, this series offers a unique opportunity to study the social, economic, and political forces that have shaped the historic experience of Black America, and that continue to determine our future. Black Studies and Critical Thinking is positioned at the forefront of research on the Black experience, and is the source for dynamic, innovative, and creative exploration of the most vital issues facing African Americans. The series invites contributions from all disciplines but is specially suited for cultural studies, anthropology, history, sociology, literature, art, and music. Subjects of interest include (but are not limited to): Education, Sociology, History, Media/Communication, Spirituality and Indigenous Thought, Women’s Studies, Policy Studies, Advertising, African American Studies, Black Political Thought.

164 publications

Critical Studies of Latinxs in the Americas

ISSN: 2372-6830

The Latinx presence continues to grow and intersect with every aspect of life in the 21st century. This is evident when one considers the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor as Associate Justice to the United States Supreme Court. As well as the prominence of distinct Latinx individuals in various spheres of social, cultural, and political life such as Mario J. Molina, Nobel Prize winner and recipient of the Medal of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013; and Jorge Maria Bergoglio (Pope Francis) who has revolutionized the Catholic church since he became the highest ecclesiastical authority of the Catholic world in 2013. Latino Studies, as an academic field of inquiry, began to emerge during the early 1990s surfacing from the more recognized field of Chicano Studies. As such, the major contributions to the field first emerged from Mexican/Chicano scholarship—publications such as Aztlán, the most important journal in the field of Chicano Studies since 1970; Gloria Anzaldúa’’s groundbreaking memoir/essay, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987); George J. Sanchez’s historical account, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (1995); and the two volumes of The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlan, 1970-2010. These are a few examples of the consolidation and the continuing development of Chicano Studies in the United States. In the past two decades, Latino Studies have grown and expanded significantly. There have been a large number of publications about Latinxs in the Midwest and North East; in addition, due to the fast-growing population of Latinxs in the area, new scholarship has emerged about the Latinxs in the New South. Some examples of the emerging field of Latino Studies are the Latinos on the East Coast (2015) edited by Yolanda Medina and Ángeles Donoso Macaya, Global Cities and Immigrants (2015) by Francisco Velasco Caballero and María de los Angeles Torres; the Handbook of Latinos and Education (2010) edited by Enrique Murillo, et al.; Angela Anselmo’s and Alma Rubal-Lopez’s 2004 On Becoming Nuyoricans; David Carey Jr. and Robert Atkinson (2009) Latino Voices in New England; Yolanda Prieto’s case study entitled, The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community (2009); and Lawrence La Fontaine-Stokes’ Queer Ricans Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (2009). Critical Studies of Latinxs in the Americas will become the counterpart of the aforementioned research about the Latinx diaspora that deserve equal scholarly attention and will add to the academic field of inquiry that highlights the lived experience, consequential progress and contributions, as well as the issues and concerns that all Latinxs face in present times. This provocative series will offer a critical space for reflection and questioning of what it means to be Latinx living in the Americas, extending the dialogue to include the North and South hemispheric relations that are prevalent in other fields of global studies such as Post-Colonial Theory, Post-Colonial Feminism, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Critical Race Theory, and others. This broader scope can contribute to prolific interdisciplinary research and can also promote changes in policies and practices that will enable today’s leaders to deal with the overall issues that affect us all. Topics that explore contemporary inequalities and social exclusions associated with processes of racialization, economic exploitation, health, education, transnationalism, immigration, identity politics, and abilities that are not commonly highlighted in the current literature as well as the multitude of socio-economic, and cultural commonalities and differences among the Latinxs in the Americas will be at the center of the series. As the Latinx population continues to grow and change, and universities enhance their Latino Studies programs to be inclusive of all types of Latinx identities, a series dedicated to the lived experience of Latinxs in the Americas and a consideration of their progress and concerns in the social, cultural, political, economic, and artistic arenas is of incredible value in the quest for pedagogical practices and understandings that apply a critical perspective to the issues facing scholars in this area of study. Scholars, faculties, and students alike will benefit from this series. Expressions of interest for authored or edited books will be considered on a first come basis. A Book Proposal Guideline is available on request. For individual or group inquiries please contact the Series Editors at ymedina@bmcc.cuny.edu & Margarita.MachadoCasas@UTSA.edu.

49 publications

Feminist Critical Studies in Religion and Culture

ISSN: 1081-9304

This series invites submissions from scholars working in the field of feminist theory, with a particular interest in religion, culture and society. The series will focus on central issues and themes debated within contemporary feminist theory (1960-present) and how those discourses relate to the study of religion as a cultural, social and historical phenomenon. For example, a feminist theoretical analysis of world religions, religious ethics, cultural movements, history of religions, gender structures in all dimensions of religious traditions would be welcome. Scholars working in related fields, such as philosophy, hermeneutics and social theory with a major interest in how these disciplines relate to the study of religion, are also invited to contribute manuscripts. The series aims at a high level of critical theoretical discussion of the contribution feminism can make, from a variety of fields, to the study of religion.

1 publications

Critical Studies in Democracy and Political Literacy

ISSN: 2166-5036

Why do so few people vote? What is political engagement? How does education intersect with democracy and political literacy? What can be learned from interdisciplinary studies on democracy? How do we cultivate political literacy? What is the relevance of elections in light of war, poverty, discrimination, social inequalities, etc.? What are the alternatives to the traditional electoral, representative, party-politics models that have characterized our societies? Is the mainstream media holding government to account, disseminating propaganda or fuelling the need to pacify the population? How do international systems, approaches and realities related to democracy compare, and what can we learn from others? These are some of the questions that are addressed through this book series. Seeking to fill an important gap in the literature, this book series takes on the theme of democracy in a multi-/inter-disciplinary, comprehensive, and critical way. Some books have democracy in the title but do not make it the focus, and often books that address more directly, for example, multiculturalism, media studies, or school reform may delve into the area of democracy without fully deconstructing what it is, how it functions, how people can shape and intersect with it, and how it is used (or misused) to distort power relations, which is at the base of teaching, learning and action. Thus, a broader range of materials specifically tailored to teacher-education and scholars within the education field is desirable. Similarly, the overlapping and interdisciplinary nature of the study of democracy bleeds naturally into the areas of media studies, sociology, political science, peace studies, multiculturalism, feminist studies, and cultural studies, etc., all of which have a natural and inextricable relationship to and within education.

6 publications

Critical Indigenous and American Indian Studies

ISSN: 2376-547X

13 publications

(Post-)Critical Global Childhood & Youth Studies

This book series focuses on post-critical research in global childhood & youth studies and education. It aims to trace the stimulating exchange of ideas on contemporary issues affecting children and young people around the world, while exploring possibilities for local and global social change. The intent is to situate, and possibly deconstruct, the systems of reasoning that govern human development and education, including deconstructing predominant critical paradigms. The series encourages innovative writing formats as well as novel theoretical and methodological approaches to co-producing knowledge in fields such as: urban, rural, and indigenous childhood & youth; child poverty and social policy, ecology and youth activism; immigration & social and educational inequalities; the experience of schooling and machine learning in diverse contexts of global education. It is addressed to relevant scholars and students as well as to policy makers, educators, and youth workers from all over the world. If you are interested to publish a monograph or an edited book with this Book Series, please contact your respective local series editor: Brazil: Prof. Márcia Amador-Mascia, Universidade São Francisco: marciaaam@uol.com.br Spanish-speaking Latin America: Prof. Silvia Grinberg, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina: grinberg.silvia@gmail.com Asian countries: Ass. Prof. Hongyan Chen, East China Normal University, Shanghai: chenhongyanup@126.com Rest of world: Prof. Michalis Kontopodis, University of Leeds: mkontopodis@pm.me

7 publications

Studies in Literary Criticism and Theory

The focus of this series is on studies of all literary genres that elucidate and interpret works of art in the context of criticism and theory. Theory and criticism are held to provide the hermeneutically most rewarding access to specific authors, works, and issues under consideration. Studies of a comparative nature with special reference to issues of literary history, criticism, and postmodern theory are the distinctive features of this monograph series. Emphasis is on subjects that may set trends, generate discussion, expand horizons beyond present perspectives, and/or redefine previously held notions about "major" and "minor" authors and their achievements within or outside the canon. Approaches may center on works, authors, or abstract notions of criticism and/or theory, including issues of a comparative nature concerning world literature. The focus of this series is on studies of all literary genres that elucidate and interpret works of art in the context of criticism and theory. Theory and criticism are held to provide the hermeneutically most rewarding access to specific authors, works, and issues under consideration. Studies of a comparative nature with special reference to issues of literary history, criticism, and postmodern theory are the distinctive features of this monograph series. Emphasis is on subjects that may set trends, generate discussion, expand horizons beyond present perspectives, and/or redefine previously held notions about "major" and "minor" authors and their achievements within or outside the canon. Approaches may center on works, authors, or abstract notions of criticism and/or theory, including issues of a comparative nature concerning world literature. The focus of this series is on studies of all literary genres that elucidate and interpret works of art in the context of criticism and theory. Theory and criticism are held to provide the hermeneutically most rewarding access to specific authors, works, and issues under consideration. Studies of a comparative nature with special reference to issues of literary history, criticism, and postmodern theory are the distinctive features of this monograph series. Emphasis is on subjects that may set trends, generate discussion, expand horizons beyond present perspectives, and/or redefine previously held notions about "major" and "minor" authors and their achievements within or outside the canon. Approaches may center on works, authors, or abstract notions of criticism and/or theory, including issues of a comparative nature concerning world literature.

21 publications

Food and Cultures from the Global South

2 publications

Critical Qualitative Research

Critical research serves to address societal structures and institutions that oppress and exclude so that transformative actions can be generated that reduce inequitable power conditions. We invite proposals for authored and edited volumes that describe critical social science research (re)conceptualizations, practices, and methodologies that can be used by other scholars who wish to design and implement critical qualitative inquiry. Critical Qualitative Research challenges modernist orientations toward research by using social theory, designs, and research practices that emerge from critical questions like: Who/what is heard? Who/what is silenced? Who is privileged? Who is disqualified? How are forms of inclusion/exclusion being created? How are relations of power constructed and managed? How do various forms of privilege and oppression intersect to impact life possibilities for various individuals and groups? How do the arts inform research? How can multiple knowledges be engaged in research? How can research be socially just?

43 publications

Critic of Institutions

ISSN: 1068-4689

12 publications

Critical Education and Ethics

ISSN: 2166-1359

The Critical Education and Ethics series intends to systematically analyze the pitfalls of social structures such as race, class, and gender as they relate to edu-cational issues. Books in the series contain theoretical work grounded in prag-matic, society-changing practices. The series places value on ethical responses, as prophetic commitments to change the conditions under which education takes place. The series aims to (1) Further the ethical understanding linking broader social issues to education by exploring the environmental, health-related, and faith/spiritual responses to our educational times and policy, and (2) Ground these works in the everyday world of the classroom, viewing how schools are impacted by what critical researchers do. Both theoretically and practically, the series aims to identify itself as an agent for community change. The Critical Education and Ethics series welcomes work from emerging scholars as well as those already established in the field.

18 publications

Critical Praxis and Curriculum Guides

The Critical Praxis and Curriculum Guides is a curriculum-based series reflective of theory creating praxis. The series targets not only undergraduate and graduate audiences, but also tenured and “experienced” teachers of all disciplines. Research suggests that teachers need to have well-designed, thematic-centered curricula and lessons at their disposal. This is accomplished when the school works as a community to meet their own needs. Community in this sense includes working collaboratively with students, parents, and local community organizations to help build the curriculum. Practically, this means that time is devoted to professional development workshops, not exam reviews or test preparation pointers, but real learning. Together with administrators, teachers form professional learning communities (PLCs) to discuss, analyze, and revise curricula and share pedagogical strategies that meet the needs of their particular school demographics. This communal approach was found to be more successful than requiring each individual teacher to create lessons on her/his own. Ideally, we would love it if each teacher could create their own authentic lessons because only s/he truly knows her/his students – and we encourage it, because it is possible! However, as educators ourselves, we understand the realities our colleagues in public schools face, especially when teaching in high needs areas. The Critical Praxis and Curriculum Guides provides relief for educators needing assistance in preparing their lessons. When possible, and in the spirit of communal practices, the series welcomes co-authored books by theorists and practitioners or solo-authored books by an expert deeply informed by the field. Because we strongly believe that theory guides our practice, each guide will blend theory and curriculum chapters creating a praxis. All, of course, in a critical pedagogical framework. Ultimately, the guides will serve as resources for teachers to use, expand upon, revise, and re-create.

13 publications

L’Europe alimentaire / European Food Issues / Europa alimentaria / L’Europa alimentare

ISSN: 2033-7892

For several decades now, our attention has been drawn to expanding agricultural output and the proliferation of powerful food companies. At the same time, in the process of European integration, the adoption of the Codex Alimentarius (1963), the Food Law (2002), and the recognition of PGIs for many products have contributed to the creation of a common European "food space". Today, these systems of supply and distribution have between them given Europeans quite varied dietary possibilities. This situation stems from various developments, linking the economic to the technical and amounting to a long-term trend. Cultural issues bear upon this, whether culinary transmission from generation to generation or the increasingly diverse catering sector, and political decisions also contribute through the establishment of standards and regulations. Hence, traditions and ruptures, innovations and continuities are permanently unsettling the European diet. Using original sources, doctoral theses, conference papers, monographs and testimonies, this series examines historical developments at the national scale and also, more generally, in a transnational perspective. The series hopes to make a significant contribution to understanding the processes of food innovation, which are powerful factors of difference and identity in contemporary Europe. All volumes in this series passed a selection process that included double blind peer-review. Le développement des rendements agricoles et la croissance de puissantes industries agroalimentaires ont focalisé l’attention depuis plusieurs décennies. Dans le processus de construction européenne, l’adoption du Codex alimentarius (1963), la Food law (2002) et la reconnaissance des IGP sur de nombreux produits contribuent désormais à unifier un espace alimentaire communautaire. Les Européens disposent de moyens d’approvisionnement et de distribution variés pour constituer leur alimentation. Cette situation procède d’évolutions plurielles, liant l’économique et le technique, et s’inscrit en fait dans la longue durée. Des enjeux culturels y sont associés, qu’il s’agisse de transmissions culinaires générationnelles ou de l’offre de restauration très diversifiée. Des choix politiques y contribuent également, par la mise en place de normalisations et de règlements. Traditions et ruptures, nouveautés et continuités bouleversent en permanence l’alimentation des Européens. Par des recueils de sources, des thèses, des actes de colloques, des monographies érudites et des témoignages, cette collection interroge les évolutions historiques et sociétales, par pays ou plus globalement dans une perspective transnationale. Elle souhaite apporter une connaissance sur des processus d’innovations alimentaires qui constituent de puissants facteurs de différences et d’identités mêlées de l’Europe contemporaine. Tous les volumes de cette collection sont publiés après double révision à l'aveugle par des pairs.

18 publications

Critical Multicultural Perspectives on Whiteness

ISSN: 2572-9616

This book series seeks to engage a broad and cross-disciplinary range of students, scholars, activists, and others in a critical multicultural dialogue on the complex intersections of power, privilege, identity, and Whiteness. The series aims to link theory and practice to problematize key societal and educational concerns related to Whiteness. The series editors share the view that taking action for transformative change in and through education, in the spirit of what Paulo Freire called conscientization, is the role of educators who seek to address the needs of all their students. In focusing on Whiteness, we are concerned with social, economic, and environmental justice, the problematization of race, and the potential for education to be emancipatory in addressing power imbalances. Some of the questions of interest for this book series include: • How do we engage in critical discussions related to power, privilege, identity, and Whiteness when many multicultural frameworks dissuade us from such work? • How can we connect Whiteness to other intersecting and pivotal forms of being, marginalization, and identity? • How can those categorized as White engage in dialogues and action about Whiteness that can positively contribute to addressing concerns of racialized and marginalized groups? • How can we effectively contextualize and critique hegemony and globalized economic realities so as to be able to discuss race in a constructive and transformative manner?

5 publications

Critical Literacies and Language

4 publications

Teaching Critical Themes in American History

ISSN: 2576-0718

In the United States, the Common Core Standards, the C3 Frame-work for Social Studies Standards (NCSS), and the 10 themes of the National Curriculum Standards (NCS/NCSS) each pose challenges for teachers preparing to teach skills, content, and critical issues of American history. The problem for many middle and secondary teachers is that textbooks do not contain sufficient primary source documents and varied secondary literature linked to these stand-ards. The volumes in the Teaching Critical Themes in American His-tory fill this need by providing teachers with history content, peda-gogical strategies, and teaching resources. The series is organized around key problems/issues in American history so that teachers can select which critical topics upon which they might want to con-centrate. Middle and Secondary pre-and in-service educators will find the books in this series essential for developing and implementing American history and social studies curriculum in diverse and com-plex classrooms. Teachers will find the books in this series valuable as they search for methodologies and material that will help them address the Common Core Standards in the social sciences and his-tory. Community College history instructors can also find the books in this series helpful as supplementary texts in their U.S. history survey courses. The practical—not to mention exciting—implementation of perspectives offered in each title is a key fea-ture of this series. This series will address topics such as the formation of the Ameri-can Republic, the problem of slavery in America, causes of the Civil War, emancipation and reconstruction, America’s response to in-dustrialization, the New Deal, the fight for Civil Rights, and more. The Series Editors invite proposals for edited volumes in American history and social studies, along with articles and lesson plans for both the topics above, and other topics of the series.

13 publications

Counterpoints

ISSN: 1058-1634

Counterpoints publishes the most compelling and imaginative books being written in education today. Grounded on the theoretical advances in criticalism, feminism and postmodernism in the last two decades of the twentieth century, Counterpoints engages the meaning of these innovations in various forms of educational expression. Committed to the proposition that theoretical literature should be accessible to a variety of audiences, the series insists that its authors avoid esoteric and jargonistic languages that transform educational scholarship into an elite discourse for the initiated. Scholarly work matters only to the degree it affects consciousness and practice at multiple sites. Counterpoints’ editorial policy is based on these principles and the ability of scholars to break new ground, to open new conversations, to go where educators have never gone before.

640 publications

A Critical Introduction to Media and Communication Theory

The study of the media has led scholars to apply a humbling array of theories in their efforts to analyze messages, media systems, audiences and media themselves. One of the strengths of media studies has been its flexibility as it incorporates humanist and social scientific ideas in our work. This series is focused on theories, methods, schools of thought, domains of intellectual struggle, and individual thinkers whose importance to the study of the media can be reconfigured, reinvented, and refocused. Each of the specially commissioned books in the series shares a concern for the heritage of thought in the field of communication. These books provide sophisticated discussions of the relevance of particular theorists or theories, with an emphasis on reinventing communication and media studies, whether by incorporating ideas thought by some to be 'outside' the field, or by providing fresh analyses of ideas that have long been considered　central to media studies. Though theoretical in focus, the books are at all times concerned with the applicability of theory to empirical research and experience, and are designed to be accessible, yet critical, for students - undergraduates and postgraduates - and scholars.　

17 publications

Studi Pergolesiani / Pergolesi Studies

Studi Pergolesiani / Pergolesi Studies is a series founded and conceived by Francesco Degrada. The first issue (1986), were the proceedings of the first conference on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi held in Jesi in 1983. Other conference proceedings followed, all with studies on Pergolesi, until the sixth issue was published in 2011. The series, now published by Peter Lang, continues under the aegis of the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini of Jesi, which promotes studies, editions and modern performances of music by Pergolesi. Studi pergolesiani / Pergolesi studies è una serie ideata da Francesco Degrada il cui primo numero uscì nel 1986. Erano qui raccolti i contributi del primo convegno dedicato a Giovanni Battista Pergolesi tenutosi a Jesi nel 1983. Ad esso seguirono altri Atti di convegni con studi di soggetto pergolesiano, fino al sesto numero pubblicato nel 2011. La serie ora prosegue con l’editore Peter Lang, sempre sotto l’egida della Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi che promuove gli studi, le edizioni e le esecuzioni moderne delle musiche di Pergolesi. Studi Pergolesiani / Pergolesi Studies is a series founded and conceived by Francesco Degrada. The first issue (1986), were the proceedings of the first conference on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi held in Jesi in 1983. Other conference proceedings followed, all with studies on Pergolesi, until the sixth issue was published in 2011. The series, now published by Peter Lang, continues under the aegis of the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini of Jesi, which promotes studies, editions and modern performances of music by Pergolesi. Studi pergolesiani / Pergolesi studies è una serie ideata da Francesco Degrada il cui primo numero uscì nel 1986. Erano qui raccolti i contributi del primo convegno dedicato a Giovanni Battista Pergolesi tenutosi a Jesi nel 1983. Ad esso seguirono altri Atti di convegni con studi di soggetto pergolesiano, fino al sesto numero pubblicato nel 2011. La serie ora prosegue con l’editore Peter Lang, sempre sotto l’egida della Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi che promuove gli studi, le edizioni e le esecuzioni moderne delle musiche di Pergolesi. Studi Pergolesiani / Pergolesi Studies is a series founded and conceived by Francesco Degrada. The first issue (1986), were the proceedings of the first conference on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi held in Jesi in 1983. Other conference proceedings followed, all with studies on Pergolesi, until the sixth issue was published in 2011. The series, now published by Peter Lang, continues under the aegis of the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini of Jesi, which promotes studies, editions and modern performances of music by Pergolesi. Studi pergolesiani / Pergolesi studies è una serie ideata da Francesco Degrada il cui primo numero uscì nel 1986. Erano qui raccolti i contributi del primo convegno dedicato a Giovanni Battista Pergolesi tenutosi a Jesi nel 1983. Ad esso seguirono altri Atti di convegni con studi di soggetto pergolesiano, fino al sesto numero pubblicato nel 2011. La serie ora prosegue con l’editore Peter Lang, sempre sotto l’egida della Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi che promuove gli studi, le edizioni e le esecuzioni moderne delle musiche di Pergolesi.

5 publications

Contemporary Critical Concepts and Pre-Enlightenment Literature

ISSN: 1074-6781

"Writers who worked before the beginning of rationalist universalism's triumphal period which may be ending now-explored issues of consciousness, ideology, and culture that recent criticism and critical theory, using various specialized vocabularies of concepts, have returned to the center of literäry and social criticism. These early modern figures often anticipated some of our clilemmas; How to manipulate an apparently quite mutable world and, at the same time, preserve belief in an immutable "centered" self? How to reconcile rationalist universalism with personal and cultural stability? Rene Descartes's postulate of man as the master and proprietor of an increasingly built world is fundamentally incompatible with his effort to underwrite man as a stable philosophical subject. Man's technical and linguistic mastery devours his "transcendent subjectivity." Students of literature are now using the ideas of what Larry Riggs calls "post-enlightenment thinkers"-Max Horkheimer, Jacques Lacan, Michael Foucault, Rene Girard, and others-to elucidate the implicit and explicit debates about rationalism that are embedded in literary works. This trend is most usefully seen as a renewal of contact with preoccupations that were quite current in medieval, Renaissance, and seventeenth-century European literature. To date, however, innovative criticism has focused an more recent literature. Some post-structuralists-most notably Jacques Lacan-have tried their hand at interpreting early works. Their ideas are interesting, but their knowledge of the periods in question is often weak. Manuscripts on Elizabethan and Restoration theater, French, Italian, and German writers of the medieval and Renaissance periods, and die seventeenth-century French dramatists and moralists are welcome. "

3 publications

Literarische Studien / Literary Studies

This publication series is dedicated to a plurality of scholarly works on the theory and history of literature irrespective of their language or methodological approach. This publication series is dedicated to a plurality of scholarly works on the theory and history of literature irrespective of their language or methodological approach. Die Reihe “Literarische Studien“ veröffentlicht Beiträge zum gesamten Feld der Literaturgeschichte der Anglistik. Schwerpunkte der Reihe sind Fragestellungen rund um die europäische Renaissance, besonders zu Werken der englischen Literatur, aber auch zu moderner Theorie und Geschichte der Literatur. Herausgeber ist Professor Heinrich F. Plett. Die Reihe erscheint in deutscher und englischer Sprache.

6 publications