I share a copy of a talk I gave on how literary interpretations are decided, focusing on theorists Stanley Fish and Hans Robert Jauss.
Tag Archives: Stanley Fish
Who Determines What a Work Means?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Hans Robert Jauss, Literary Theory, Reader Response Theory Comments closed
The Reader’s Role in Literature
Reader Response Theory focuses on the reader’s involvement in literature, opening up avenues untouched by formalist criticism.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Hans Robert Jauss, Literary Criticism, Norman Holland, Reader Response Theory, Wolfgang Iser Comments closed
Most Plagiarists Fail to “Sin Nobly”
Jason Blake’s guest column this week is on the issue of plagiarism. Jason’s experience matches my own: it takes more work to produce a successful plagiarism than to write an acceptable essay. Plagiarism is generally so obvious that the plagiarist resembles Tom Sawyer in the episode involving memorized Bible verses. As you may recall, students […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Douglas Adams, Education, King Lear, Plagiarism, William Shakespeare Comments closed
You, Sir, Are No Jay Gatsby
Everyone has something to say about Barack Obama, who has been the subject of non-stop scrutiny since last year’s Democratic primaries. It therefore is not surprising that some would turn to literature to understand what he means. Including, in recent weeks, two New York Times columnists. Stanley Fish, the subject of three posts this […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oven Bird", American Dream, Julius Caesar, Nationalism, Obama, politics, Robert Frost, Roger Cohen, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Yes, Stanley, Lit Can Change Lives
George Herbert I’m trying to figure out why Stanley Fish bothers me so. Maybe it’s because I’m already worried that our society doesn’t take poetry seriously enough. Then an English professor with a national forum comes along and confirms that people should consider the study of literature as an arcane study yielding satisfactions only to […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Collar", "Love (3)", "Matins", Christianity, College Teaching, George Herbert Comments closed
Lit Is More than Just an End in Itself
Alan Paskow Yesterday I talked about how Alan Paskow (in philosophy) and I violently disagreed with a series of columns that Stanley Fish wrote on his New York Time blog about the humanities. Fish was going after those who use the humanities “instrumentally”—as good for something else rather than as ends in themselves. Alan, […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Will the Humanities Save Us?", Alan Paskow, College Teaching, Humanities Comments closed
Fish’s Claim that Lit is of No Use
Stanley Fish Last week I was talking to my colleague in philosophy Alan Paskow about a Stanley Fish New York Times column. (Cancer update: Alan had one of the five tumors in his lungs removed two weeks ago through cyberknife surgery.) Although an old post—last January—it had stuck with us because it contradicts so […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Anthony Kronman, Education's End, English teachers, Humanities, Literary Theory, Terry Eagleton Comments closed
