Explore the political economy of New Criticism and the racist interpretation complex. Learn about Langston Hughes' testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Discover the entanglement of anti-communism, anti-black racism, and new critical project. Delve into the impact of the racist interpretation complex on the university and mainstream publications. Discuss the tools of the critic and scholar in literary studies and the tension between close reading and broader perspectives.
01:21:21
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Quick takeaways
Close reading as a method can be detached from the racist and reactionary politics of the new criticism movement.
There is a tension between the continued emphasis on close reading and the broader goals of literary studies.
The legacy of new criticism perpetuates biases and hierarchies, highlighting the need to challenge exclusionary traditions in literary studies.
Deep dives
The Political Context of New Criticism
The episode explores the political context in which the new criticism movement emerged in the early 20th century. Rooted in reactionary politics, figures like T.S. Eliot, Cleanth Brooks, and Robert Penn Warren were both influential intellectuals and proponents of racist ideologies. The new critics held anti-communist sentiments and flirted with agrarianism, while maintaining a complicated relationship with industrialization and capitalism. However, the technique of close reading, often associated with the new criticism, is argued to be separable from the politics of its originators. The argument emphasizes that the method itself is devoid of necessary content and can be detached from the right-wing politics that were intertwined with its development.
The Separation of Close Reading and Politics
The discussion revolves around the separation of close reading as a method from the politics associated with its origin. Close reading, defined as a formal technique, is considered separable from the reactionary ideologies of the new critics who devised and initially employed it. The simplicity and formal nature of the technique allow it to be detached from the political investments that accompanied it. While acknowledging the racism and anti-communist sentiments of the new critics, the argument is made that the technique itself can exist independently, devoid of any necessary political content.
The Role of Close Reading in Literary Studies
Close reading is examined as a tool of literary study that is still upheld and valued in the larger academic institution. It is noted that close reading is often taught in first-year seminars and general education courses, and is respected even by scholars in other disciplines. However, there is a tension between the continued emphasis on close reading and the broader goals of literary studies. The episode highlights the need for a balance between close reading and a macro perspective, suggesting that literature can be viewed as a means of understanding big picture concepts and world-making, rather than solely focusing on detailed textual analysis.
Challenging the Professional Culture of Literary Studies
The episode explores the questioning and unmooring of the professional culture within literary studies. The lack of a clear position among practitioners regarding the discipline's relationship to the university and its purpose leads to conversations about research methods seeking a central focus. The episode highlights the importance of considering the structure and wider place of the academy in the US political economy to effectively transform the discipline. It emphasizes the need for deep structural thinking and engaging with movements and individuals outside the academy to reimagine and constructively build alternative institutions.
Reframing New Criticism as a Political Economy
The legacy of new criticism, which emerged as a dominant approach in literary studies, is reframed as a political economy that perpetuates biases, prejudices, and hierarchies. The episode discusses how new criticism, despite being critiqued and perceived as outdated, still influences the habits and justifications within English departments and the broader humanities. It explores the tension between privileging close reading and the need to recenter literary studies' relationship with history, philosophy, anthropology, and other interdisciplinary perspectives. The episode highlights the importance of historical thinking and understanding the interdisciplinary nature of literary texts to challenge exclusionary traditions and promote cultural democracy.
What is the political economy of New Criticism? Are the racist and reactionary Cold War politics of the New Critics immanent to their trademark method: close reading? The episode begins with the story of Langston Hughes testifying before the the House Un-American Activities Committee on what goes into the interpretation of a poem. What constitutes "tactical criticism" [9:00]? Critics try to rescue close reading from the "bad politics" at its origins [38:00], endorse supplementary methods [59:00], and describe how New Criticism looks from outside the U.S. and U.K. [1:07.30].
Cast (in order of appearance): Langston Hughes, Andy Hines, Matt Seybold, Jed Esty, John Guillory, Anna Kornbluh, Christopher Newfield, Ignacio M. Sanchez Prado
Soundtrack: Joe Locke's "Makram"
For episode bibliography, please visit MarkTwainStudies.com/NewCriticism, or subscribe to our newsletter at TheAmericanVandal.SubStack.com, where you will also receive episode transcripts.
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