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Criticism and Truth
On Method in Literary Studies
Series: Thinking Literature
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Check link for latest rating. ( 34 ratings, 8 reviews)
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Criticism and Truth
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for students, scholars, and practitioners of literary studies and the humanities who seek a deeper understanding of literary criticism's methods. It will also appeal to those interested in defending and revitalising the humanities within contemporary higher education.
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Description
A defence and celebration of the discipline of literary studies and its most distinctive practice—close reading.
Does literary criticism offer truths about the world? In this book, Jonathan Kramnick explains literary criticism’s distinctive approach to knowledge and its disciplinary rationale by zeroing in on its singular method: close reading. Close reading is the field’s way of pursuing arguments and advancing knowledge—the crucial craft and skill that it imparts to students. For Kramnick, close reading is also a creative, transformative, and immersive writing practice that fosters a unique kind of ecologically-minded engagement with the world.
Drawing on recent examples of literary criticism, Kramnick unpacks the art of in-text quotations and other reading methods, advocating for them as a valuable form of humanistic expertise worthy of a prominent place within a multi-disciplinary university.
As the humanities fight for survival in contemporary higher education, the study of literature doesn’t need more plans for reform. Rather, it needs a defence of the work already being done and an account of why it should flourish. This is what Criticism and Truth offers, in vivid and portable form.
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Criticism and Truth
A defence and celebration of the discipline of literary studies and its most distinctive practice—close reading. Does literary criticism offer truths about the world? In this book, Jonathan Kramnick explains literary criticism’s distinctive approach to knowledge and its disciplinary rationale by zeroing in on its singular method: close reading. Close reading is the field’s way of pursuing arguments and advancing...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
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Chinese Whispers examines multiple contact zones between the Anglophone and Sinophone worlds, investigating how poetry both enables and complicates the transpacific production of meaning. In this new book, the noted critic and best-selling author Yunte Huang explores the dynamics of poetry and poetics in the age of globalization, particularly questions of translatability, universality, and risk in the transpacific context. Chinese...Paperback$4799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Praised as a necessary and insightful study, Criticism and Truth is recognised for grounding literary criticism’s epistemology in everyday practices such as quoting and paraphrasing. Rachel Sagner Buurma calls it a "gemlike book" capturing the brilliance of literary critics, while Elaine Auyoung commends its skilled performance revealing the artistry in close reading. The book is noted for making the tacit skills of critics intelligible and for highlighting shared disciplinary craft beyond methodological disputes.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780226830537
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 December 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 13.0mm
Width: 140.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 200g
Pages: 144
About the Author
Jonathan Kramnick is the Maynard Mack Professor of English and director of the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University. He is the author of Making the English Canon, Actions and Objects from Hobbes to Richardson, and Paper Minds, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press.
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