| The Future of Theory Contributor(s): Rabate (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0631230130 ISBN-13: 9780631230137 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons OUR PRICE: $37.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2002 Annotation: Is Theory dead? Is it, as skeptics suggest, too distant from anything "real" to be useful, too sweeping in its referral of all texts to grand theses? Or is it a mask for fashion and self-promotion in academia? In this controversial manifesto, Jean-Michel Rabate addresses current anxieties about Theory and claims that it still has a crucial role to play. Acknowledging that he cannot speak about the future of Theory without taking stock of its past, Rabate starts by sketching its genealogy, particularly its relation to Surrealism, philosophy, and the hard sciences. Against this background, he proposes that Theory, like hysteria, consistently points out the inadequacies of official, serious and "masterful" knowledge. Its role, he suggests, is to ask difficult, foundational questions, which entail revisionary readings of culture and its texts. In this way, Rabate claims, whether the theory of the moment is structuralism or globalization, Theory in its broader sense will always return, providing us with provocative and stimulating insights into what we do and how we read. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | History & Surveys - General |
| Dewey: 149 |
| LCCN: 2002022601 |
| Series: Blackwell Manifestos (Paperback) |
| Physical Information: 0.52" H x 5.94" W x 8.96" (0.60 lbs) 176 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this controversial manifesto, Jean-Michel Rabat addresses current anxieties about the future of literary and cultural theory and proposes that it still has a crucial role to play. |