| Title | : | Revolution of the Ordinary: Literary Studies after Wittgenstein, Austin, and Cavell |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 022646444X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780226464442 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published May 22, 2017 |
Moi first introduces Wittgenstein’s vision of language and theory, which refuses to reduce language to a matter of naming or representation, considers theory’s desire for generality doomed to failure, and brings out the philosophical power of the particular case. Contrasting ordinary language philosophy with dominant strands of Saussurean and post-Saussurean thought, she highlights the former’s originality, critical power, and potential for creative use. Finally, she challenges the belief that good critics always read below the surface, proposing instead an innovative view of texts as expression and action, and of reading as an act of acknowledgment. Intervening in cutting-edge debates while bringing Wittgenstein, Austin, and Cavell to new readers, Revolution of the Ordinary will appeal beyond literary studies to anyone looking for a philosophically serious account of why words matter.
Revolution of the Ordinary: Literary Studies after Wittgenstein, Austin, and Cavell Reviews
-
There is a gigantic divide (so big it's not even usually something anyone notices) between literary theorists who have been mostly influenced by Saussure and philosophers of language who are influenced by Austin or Wittgenstein (or Grice, who only gets cited once in this book). Moi draws attention to the divide and makes the case that big chunks of contemporary literary theory mischaracterize the nature of meaning (or in extreme cases are led into absurdity) because they don't pay enough attention to the ways language, human life, and the world are interconnected, ways that are the preoccupation of Wittgenstein, Austin, and Cavell. As a philosopher working broadly in the analytic tradition, I was astounded to read Moi's account of the kinds of theories that are being built in literary theory about the "materiality" of the signifier, or the idea that "nature is literate" (p.123) (although read in one way, that could sound pretty close to McDowell's view in Mind and World).
I'm interested in the clash of cultures between philosophy and the neighboring humanities disciplines. One footnote about criticism of Cavell's writing about film caught my attention as distilling some of that clash:
"Singling out Cavell's discussion of Now, Voyager, Modleski claims that Cavell fails to quote and discuss feminist writings on the film. It is true that Cavell doesn't cite any women in his analysis. But, as he points out, he doesn't cite any men either." (p. 251 n.3). -
“To learn a language is to acquire a world. When the practices that give rise to the language die, the language will die, too. Bullfighting language will be doomed the day the bullfights become unacceptable to the Spanish, and the Mexicans, and the other Latin American countries that still practice bullfighting. What dies with a language, however, are not just words, but practices: the capacity to see, and to appreciate, certain distinctions, certain moments of beauty and courage. This is what it means to say that world and word are intertwined, or as Wittgenstein puts it: ‘To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life’ (§19).”
-
As Toril Moi (Duke) would have it, critical theory never truly escaped Saussure. Each new development from post-Structuralism to new materialism stands in direct relation—affirmation or rejection—to a post-Saussurean logic of representation. The meaning of a concept determines its use and the job of the critical theorist is to construct theories of language. Yet, this “craving for generality” has lead scholars to dismiss particular cases in favor of bounded, complete universals. Drawing on the ordinary language philosophy of Wittgenstein, and Cavell (Austin to a lesser degree), Moi offers a compelling argument that the Saussurean project is backwards: we cannot develop a theory of language because language is indeterminate; instead, use determines meaning. Moi’s perspicuous prose guides the reader through the basics of ordinary language philosophy and demonstrates how a Wittgensteinian attention to specific examples of ordinary use offers a radical and liberating approach to how we approach texts. Moi advocates moving beyond the cynicism of the ‘hermeneutics of suspicion’ as she traces a fresh approach to reading the world. A bold reassessment of literary studies after theory and a project one can hope will revolutionize inquiry into rhetoric.
-
Den här boken är den enskilt mest viktiga för min syn på litteraturvetenskap; den har på samma gång fått mig att inse att mina tankar och mitt synsätt hör hemma i ett sammanhang, tillfört oändligt många nya insikter, och satt ord på de problem inom litteraturvetenskapen jag frustrerats över men inte själv lyckats artikulera. Vissa delar av den har jag burit med mig sedan jag först läste den för något år sedan, som ett slags påminnelse om att mina tankar bottnar någonstans.
-
Ordinary Language Philosophy is a great way to think about the world and Moi does a great job bringing its relevance out.
-
RK KINDLE
