The fateful question of culture /​ Geoffrey H. Hartman

Title

• The fateful question of culture / Geoffrey H. Hartman.

Author

• Hartman, Geoffrey H.

Published

• New York : Columbia University Press, c1997.

Content Types

• text

Carrier Types

• volume

Physical Description

• 249 p. ; 22 cm.

Series

• The Wellek Library lecture series at the University of California, Irvine
• Wellek Library lecture series at the University of California, Irvine.

Subjects

• Criticism -- History -- 20th century.
• Culture.

Summary

• What defines "culture wars"? Can art and literature restore and reconnect us to the world? Or does culture, in the guise of politics, divide and separate us? What is finally at stake in the "culture wars"? In this book Geoffrey H. Hartman explores the varied meanings of culture in a fractured postmodern world. Engaging a wide range of literature and criticism, Hartman considers culture's many uses, generating the subtle yet immense hope that flows from a great artist such as Wordsworth but also the terrible capacity to destroy, as evidenced by the cultural politics of Nazi Germany. Hartman calls for the restoration of literature to its place as the focus of thinking about culture and for the renewal of aesthetic education to help ensure the balance between art, culture, and politics.

Contents

• Ch. 1. Introduction
• Ch. 2. Culture and the Abstract Life
• Ch. 3. The Question of Our Speech
• Ch. 4. Language and Culture After the Holocaust
• Ch. 5. The Sympathy Paradox: Poetry, Feeling, and Modern Cultural Morality
• Ch. 6. A Culture of Inclusion
• App. 1. "Culture" and "Civilization"
• App. 2. On Methodology.

Notes

• Includes bibliographical references and index.
• English.

Language

• English