Pornography first developed in western Europe during the late eighteenth century in tandem with the rise of utilitarianism, the philosophical position that stresses the importance of something's usefulness over its essence. Through incisive readings of Sade, Flaubert, Lawrence, and Bret Easton Ellis, Frances Ferguson here shows how pornography-like utilitarian social structures-diverts our attention from individual identities to actions and renders more clearly the social value of such "actions" through concrete literary representations.
Pornography first developed in western Europe during the late eighteenth century in tandem with the rise of utilitarianism, the philosophical position...
At the close of the 18th century, the aesthetics of the sublime were shaped by two conflicting views: the empiricism of Edmund Burke and the formalist idealism of Immanuel Kant. Today, theoretical work struggles once again with this philosophical issue. In modern debates over the nature of literary language and of human agency, the sublime has been a bone of contention for critics of every stripe, from Adorno and Eagleton to Derrida and de Man, from deconstructionists to New Historicists. In this bold work, Frances Ferguson seeks to rescue Kantian idealism from prevailing empiricist critiques...
At the close of the 18th century, the aesthetics of the sublime were shaped by two conflicting views: the empiricism of Edmund Burke and the formalist...
Drawing on the life stories of Native Americans solicited by historians during the 19th century and, later, by anthropologists concerned with amplifying the cultural record, Arnold Krupat examines the Indian autobiography as a specific genre of American writing.
Drawing on the life stories of Native Americans solicited by historians during the 19th century and, later, by anthropologists concerned with amplifyi...
