Description
Book SynopsisAn analysis of the significance of literature in the work of one of America's most influential contemporary philosophers. Stanley Cavell is widely recognized as one of America's most important contemporary philosophers, and his legacy and writings continue to attract considerable attention among literary critics and theorists. Stanley Cavell and the Claim of Literature comprehensively addresses the importance of literature in Cavell's philosophy and, in turn, the potential effect of his philosophy on contemporary literary criticism. David Rudrum dedicates a chapter to each of the writers that principally occupy Cavell, including Shakespeare, Thoreau, Beckett, Wordsworth, Ibsen, and Poe, and incorporates chapters on tragedy, skepticism, ethics, and politics. Through detailed analysis of these works, Rudrum explores Cavell's ideas on the nature of reading; the relationships among literary language, ordinary language, and performative language; the status of authors and characters; th
Trade ReviewDavid Rudrum's impressive book . . . is likely to be the standard reference on Cavell's readings of literature within the English-speaking world for a considerable time. [An] elegant book that, one hopes, will bring Cavell to the attention of many new readers.
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ParagraphThe great merit of
Stanley Cavell and the Claim of Literature is the manner [in which] Rudrum puts together numerous leading theories and approaches, sorts through them distinctly, and acknowledges their genuine driving insights. It is a thoughtful, gracefully written book.
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Review of Contemporary PhilosophyThe critical readings that Cavell has published are set against deep observations relating to structuralism, poststructuralism, New Historicism, psychoanalytic criticism, and new textualism.
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ChoiceRudrum responds to the philosophical, literary, and literary-philosophical writings of Stanley Cavell in a deeply Cavellian manner. Rudrum's book is deeply compelling in its own right. It claims our attention, even while permitting Cavell also to register his claims on us.
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Common KnowledgeTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
List of Abbreviated Titles
Introduction: Approaching the Unapproachable
1. Making Sense(s) of Walden
2. The Avoidance of Shakespeare
3. From the Sublime to the Ordinary: Stanley Cavell's Beckett
4. How to Do Things with Wordsworth
5. What Did Cavell Want of Poe?
6. "Politics as Opposed to What?": Social Contract and Marriage Contract in A Doll's House
7. Tragedy's Tragedies: Between the Skeptical and the Ethical
Conclusion: Just an Ordinary American Tragedy
Notes
Bibliography
Index
