2. The Retrospective Tenor of Recent Theory

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction Introduction 1
5. PART ONE: THE POLITICS OF CRITICISM
6. 1. How to Be an Intellectual: Rorty v. Ross 9
7. 2. The Retrospective Tenor of Recent Theory 25
8. 3. The Rise of the Theory Journal 31
9. 4. How Critics Became Smart 37
10. 5. Publicist Intellectuals 42
11. 6. The Ubiquity of Culture 45
12. 7. Credibility and Criticism: On Walter Benn Michaels 57
13. 8. The Statistical Turn in Literary Criticism 61
14. PART TWO: PROFILES IN CRITICISM
15. 9. Prodigal Critics: Bloom, Fish, and Greenblatt 65
16. 10. A Life in Criticism: M. H. Abrams 72
17. 11. Bellwether: J. Hillis Miller 77
18. 12. The Political Theory License: Michael Walzer 82
19. 13. The Critic as Wanderer: Terry Eagleton 88
20. 14. From Cyborgs to Animals: Donna Haraway 92
21. 15. Intellectuals and Politics: Stefan Collini 97
22. 16. The Editor as Broker: Gordon Hutner 104
23. 17. Gaga Feminism: Judith “Jack” Halberstam 109
24. 18. Book Angst 115
25. PART THREE: THE PREDICAMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY
26. 19. The Pedagogy of Debt 119
27. 20. Student Debt and the Spirit of Indenture 134
28. 21. The Academic Devolution 143
29. 22. The Neoliberal Bias of Higher Education 151
30. 23. The University on Film 158
31. 24. The Thrill Is Gone 162
32. 25. Unlucky Jim 167
33. 26. Academic Opportunities Unlimited 175
34. PART FOUR: THE PERSONAL AND THE CRITICAL
35. 27. The Pedagogy of Prison 179
36. 28. Shelf Life 188
37. 29. Teacher: Remembering Michael Sprinker 194
38. 30. My Life as Editor 201
39. 31. Other People’s Words 206
40. 32. Long Island Intellectual 210