Against Literature (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780816622498)

Is there a way of thinking about literature that is "outside" or "against" literature? In Against Literature, John Beverly brilliantly responds to this question, arguing for a negation of the literary that would allow nonliterary forms of cultural practice to displace literature's hegemony.

Reminding us that most contemporary theorist speak today of literature with historically and socially specific conditions of production and reading formations, Beverley begins with a provocative exploration of Latin American literature, which he says the legacy of Columbus (discovery, conquest, and colonization) has endowed with an ambiguous cultural function, making it both a colonial institution and a historical agent of nation formation. He moves from this consideration to an extensive discussion of the postcolonial testimonio, poised between literature and the dynamics of subaltern culture. Beverley's demonstration of how the internal logic that has always driven the dominant conception f literature must of necessity explode int cultural politics is a significant intervention into current debates about cultural studies, the canon, and multiculturalism.

Author: John Beverley
ISBN-10: 0816622493
ISBN-13: 9780816622498
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Language: English
Published: 09/24/1993
Pages: 202
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 9.04h x 6.06w x 0.44d