A Defense of Judgment

¡ University of Chicago Press
āĻ‡-āĻŦā§āĻ•
253
āĻĒā§ƒāĻˇā§āĻ āĻž
āĻ‰āĻĒāĻ¯ā§āĻ•ā§āĻ¤
āĻ°ā§‡āĻŸāĻŋāĻ‚ āĻ“ āĻ°āĻŋāĻ­āĻŋāĻ‰ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšāĻžāĻ‡ āĻ•āĻ°āĻž āĻšā§ŸāĻ¨āĻŋ  āĻ†āĻ°āĻ“ āĻœāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ¨

āĻāĻ‡ āĻ‡-āĻŦā§āĻ•ā§‡āĻ° āĻŦāĻŋāĻˇā§Ÿā§‡

Teachers of literature make judgments about value. They tell their students which works are powerful, beautiful, surprising, strange, or insightful—and thus, which are more worthy of time and attention than others. Yet the field of literary studies has largely disavowed judgments of artistic value on the grounds that they are inevitably rooted in prejudice or entangled in problems of social status. For several decades now, professors have called their work value-neutral, simply a means for students to gain cultural, political, or historical knowledge. 

?Michael W. Clune’s provocative book challenges these objections to judgment and offers a positive account of literary studies as an institution of aesthetic education. It is impossible, Clune argues, to separate judgments about literary value from the practices of interpretation and analysis that constitute any viable model of literary expertise. Clune envisions a progressive politics freed from the strictures of dogmatic equality and enlivened by education in aesthetic judgment, transcending consumer culture and market preferences. Drawing on psychological and philosophical theories of knowledge and perception, Clune advocates for the cultivation of what John Keats called “negative capability,” the capacity to place existing criteria in doubt and to discover new concepts and new values in artworks. Moving from theory to practice, Clune takes up works by Keats, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Samuel Beckett, and Thomas Bernhard, showing how close reading—the profession’s traditional key skill—harnesses judgment to open new modes of perception.

āĻ˛ā§‡āĻ–āĻ• āĻ¸āĻŽā§āĻĒāĻ°ā§āĻ•ā§‡

Michael W. Clune is the Samuel B. and Virginia C. Knight Professor of Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of Writing Against Time; American Literature and the Free Market, 1945–2000; Gamelife; and White Out: The Secret Life of Heroin. 

āĻ‡-āĻŦā§āĻ•ā§‡ āĻ°ā§‡āĻŸāĻŋāĻ‚ āĻĻāĻŋāĻ¨

āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ° āĻŽāĻ¤āĻžāĻŽāĻ¤ āĻœāĻžāĻ¨āĻžāĻ¨āĨ¤

āĻĒāĻ āĻ¨ āĻ¤āĻĨā§āĻ¯

āĻ¸ā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ°ā§āĻŸāĻĢā§‹āĻ¨ āĻāĻŦāĻ‚ āĻŸā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻŦāĻ˛ā§‡āĻŸ
Android āĻāĻŦāĻ‚ iPad/iPhone āĻāĻ° āĻœāĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ Google Play āĻŦāĻ‡ āĻ…ā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻĒ āĻ‡āĻ¨āĻ¸ā§āĻŸāĻ˛ āĻ•āĻ°ā§āĻ¨āĨ¤ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ° āĻ…ā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻ•āĻžāĻ‰āĻ¨ā§āĻŸā§‡āĻ° āĻ¸āĻžāĻĨā§‡ āĻ…āĻŸā§‹āĻŽā§‡āĻŸāĻŋāĻ• āĻ¸āĻŋāĻ™ā§āĻ• āĻšā§Ÿ āĻ“ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ…āĻ¨āĻ˛āĻžāĻ‡āĻ¨ āĻŦāĻž āĻ…āĻĢāĻ˛āĻžāĻ‡āĻ¨ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ‡ āĻĨāĻžāĻ•ā§āĻ¨ āĻ¨āĻž āĻ•ā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻĒā§œāĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĻā§‡ā§ŸāĨ¤
āĻ˛ā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻĒāĻŸāĻĒ āĻ“ āĻ•āĻŽā§āĻĒāĻŋāĻ‰āĻŸāĻžāĻ°
Google Play āĻĨā§‡āĻ•ā§‡ āĻ•ā§‡āĻ¨āĻž āĻ…āĻĄāĻŋāĻ“āĻŦā§āĻ• āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ•āĻŽā§āĻĒāĻŋāĻ‰āĻŸāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĻ° āĻ“ā§Ÿā§‡āĻŦ āĻŦā§āĻ°āĻžāĻ‰āĻœāĻžāĻ°ā§‡ āĻļā§āĻ¨āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĻ¨āĨ¤
eReader āĻāĻŦāĻ‚ āĻ…āĻ¨ā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ āĻĄāĻŋāĻ­āĻžāĻ‡āĻ¸
Kobo eReaders-āĻāĻ° āĻŽāĻ¤ā§‹ e-ink āĻĄāĻŋāĻ­āĻžāĻ‡āĻ¸ā§‡ āĻĒāĻĄāĻŧāĻ¤ā§‡, āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻĢāĻžāĻ‡āĻ˛ āĻĄāĻžāĻ‰āĻ¨āĻ˛ā§‹āĻĄ āĻ“ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ° āĻĄāĻŋāĻ­āĻžāĻ‡āĻ¸ā§‡ āĻŸā§āĻ°āĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ¸āĻĢāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻšāĻŦā§‡āĨ¤ āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻŦāĻšāĻžāĻ°āĻ•āĻžāĻ°ā§€āĻ° āĻ‰āĻĻā§āĻĻā§‡āĻļā§āĻ¯ā§‡ āĻ¤ā§ˆāĻ°āĻŋ āĻ¸āĻšāĻžā§ŸāĻ¤āĻž āĻ•ā§‡āĻ¨ā§āĻĻā§āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĻā§‡āĻ“ā§ŸāĻž āĻ¨āĻŋāĻ°ā§āĻĻā§‡āĻļāĻžāĻŦāĻ˛ā§€ āĻ…āĻ¨ā§āĻ¸āĻ°āĻŖ āĻ•āĻ°ā§‡ āĻ¯ā§‡āĻ¸āĻŦ eReader-āĻ āĻĢāĻžāĻ‡āĻ˛ āĻĒāĻĄāĻŧāĻž āĻ¯āĻžāĻŦā§‡ āĻ¸ā§‡āĻ–āĻžāĻ¨ā§‡ āĻŸā§āĻ°āĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ¸āĻĢāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°ā§āĻ¨āĨ¤