A psychological analysis of the motivations and actions of the characters in Act I, Scene 2, of Shakespeare's King Lear" (RD)

Criticizes Stanley B. Greenfield's essay, Grammar and Meaning in Poetry" ( PMLA," vol. 82, pp. 377-87), which won the Modern Language Association's Research Activities Award in 1968. (SW)

Explores selected aspects of the work of the "Yale School" literary critics, particularly Jacques Derrida and Geoffrey Hartman. (JT)

Suggests, through a comparison of Bleich's work with that of the Geneva School critics, that the two criticisms have a common base and interest from which they encounter similar difficulties, and that their resolutions illuminate a solution to the totalizing effects of current criticism. (DD)

Takes issue with Reed Way Dasenbrock's criticism of literary theory and the terms under which literary interpretation and discussion take place. Presents Dasenbrock's reply, which discusses his understanding of certain terms (evidence, truth, debate), his description of the problem, and the logical contradictions he finds internal to…

Explores how Edmund Burke's discourse on the sublime helps illuminate attacks on the vulgarization of culture (as typified by Allan Bloom), both for the presumedly "vulgar" reader and for the champions of high culture. (MG)

Examines Ernest Hemingway's indictment of Jewish culture through Robert Cohn, a character in "The Sun Also Rises." Argues that Hemingway's portrayal of Cohn reveals the apprehensions that mainstream Americans had about an alien immigrant population. Concludes that Hemingway reacted to what he viewed as a breakdown of values and a threat…

Describes the current debate in literary study between the humanist/historicist and the anti-humanist/anti-historicist perspectives. Examines the political dimensions of this debate, including its relationship to Marxist theory and deconstruction. Asserts that literary texts are productions of ideology and that literary study should inquire into…

Claims that the essay stands apart from both poetry and prose fiction, as well as from other forms of academic writing, in its emphasis upon the actual situation of the writer, and thus upon its personal nature. Argues for its relevance and inclusion in the academic community. (RAE)

Asserts that post-structuralism cannot be applied to literary texts because to talk about applying post-structuralism assumes: (1) free-standing subjects; (2) free-standing objects of investigation; (3) free-standing methods; and (4) free-standing interpretation. (RAE)

Claims that Quebec writers in the 1960s-80s, buoyed by nationalist and separatist aims, created alternative "Marias" who write out of their language, dreams, and bodies, and who are trying to effect a further liberation. Asks where future trajectories invented by Quebec writers will propel their readers next. (RAE)

Argues that among the branches of historicism practiced by literary critics today, a branch of New Historicism that is broadly humanistic as opposed to narrowly political is the most illuminating. Describes the development and theoretical premises of this branch. Shows how it may be applied to the analysis of a literary work such as Keats's…

Maintains that literacy studies can contribute to the general field of literary criticism. Uses George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" as an introduction to the concept of literacy narratives, raising many questions about the process and politics of language acquisition. (SR)