The Real Reasons Why the English Department Died
Most professors would rather watch it die than reform.
Adam Ellwanger
· 9 min read
literature
A collection of 48 posts
Game, Set, Match
Routinely reviled by contemporary critics as a celebration of misogyny, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is among Shakespeare’s most misunderstood plays.
Marilyn Simon
· 12 min read
Thoughtful Aesthete or Cheerful Philistine?
On art, artists, and the divided soul of comedian Russell Kane.
Robin Ashenden
· 9 min read
Do We Still Need a Women’s Prize for Fiction?
It is time to consider retiring awards segregated by the sex of the author.
Josh Allan
· 7 min read
Words Are the Only Victors
Salman Rushdie’s new novel is a powerful reminder of his vital role in the endless battle for free speech.
Christian Kriticos
· 11 min read
Roald Dahl and the Ethics of Art
The urge to censor is based on a misunderstanding of what makes literature valuable.
Iona Italia
· 11 min read
Ken Kesey and the Rush to Deinstitutionalization
Whatever the literary strengths of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the book has done much to harm both the mentally ill and their communities.
Stephen Eide
· 11 min read
Two Hundred Years of Stendhal
2022 marks the bicentennial of the pseudonym’s transformation from literary dabbler into one of the greatest novelists of the modern age.
Robert Zaretsky
· 11 min read
Why I Left Academia (Since You're Wondering)
I didn’t have a choice. Thousands of people are driven out of the profession each year.
William Deresiewicz
· 16 min read
What Explains Women's Fascination With BDSM Fiction?
Every generation or so (i.e., roughly every 25 years) a woman (it’s always a woman) writes a book about kinky sex—and a very specific type of kinky sex.
Robert King
· 10 min read
At 400, Molière Still Matters
Over the years, Le Tartuffe ou l’Imposteur has been one my favorite Molière plays to study and direct with my undergraduate students at Princeton University. I find it to be the best point of origin from which to discover his body of work. As often with Molière, the plot
Florent Masse
· 12 min read
Anatomy of a Murder
On New Year’s Eve 2021 news of my killing began to circulate on Twitter. holy shit this is a murder https://t.co/CwsF0sZ9sZ — Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) January 1, 2022 I scrolled through scores of posts before I could stop myself, pausing to read replies and retweets. Some
Jonathan Gottschall
· 10 min read
A World of Waste, Stripped of Transcendence: James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ at 100
Few novels become institutions, to have departments rigged up around them, whole constituencies and spheres of scholarship, as works of lifelong study, fascination and confusion. Ulysses, whose publication centenary will be observed on February 2nd, is one such book. Like Marx’s Kapital, Joyce’s door-stopping opus has kept academics
Jared Marcel Pollen
· 13 min read
Reading James Joyce Amidst Winter Snow, ‘Where Dwell the Vast Hosts of the Dead’
Many people no doubt roll their eyes in scoffing dismissal when they hear the commonly expressed—and almost as commonly crooned—wish for a White Christmas. But there are sound spiritual reasons for longing to see one’s environs blanketed with snow. Silent in its approach and accumulation, snow can
Herman Goodden
· 10 min read
The Eyes Have It
For the “new intellectual,” ultimately, the way forward has to be paved with nuance and understanding.
David Cohen
· 10 min read