John Gardner's War on Nihilism

There are few matters in art criticism (and life) closer to Professor Kozlowski's heart than the mental/spiritual war against capital-N Nihilism - retaining hope in the face of despair, remaining positive in the face of relentless negativity, and perpetually adjusting one's perspective to acknowledge the value of the good things in the world, even when plans go awry and things fall apart. That conviction lies hand-in-hand with his reading of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction, which casts artists in the role of warriors against the dark, explicitly comparing art to Thor's Hammer, beating back the forces of evil. In this lecture, Professor Kozlowski explores Gardner's stark, martial metaphors, assesses the fine distinctions between moral and immoral art, and applies these findings to the art world today.

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