{"product_id":"flight-from-eden-the-origins-of-modern-literary-criticism-and-theory-hardcover","title":"Flight from Eden: The Origins of Modern Literary Criticism and Theory - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSteven Cassedy\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSteven Cassedy takes aim at two of the most enduring myths of modern criticism: that it is secular, and that it is new and autonomous. He argues that though modern criticism is often forbiddingly scientific and technical, the modern critic remains something of a mystic. Every school of modern criticism--from structuralism to postmodern criticism--rests on a faith in an \"Eden,\" an irreducible essence, a myth, like the common myth that there is an intrinsic distinction between \"poetic\" language and \"ordinary\" language. The modern critic attempts to abandon all mystical faith; this is the \"flight from Eden.\" But it is always in vain. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It is traditionally assumed that modern literary criticism and theory came from France, and relatively recently. In fact, according to Cassedy, the entire modern critical consciousness was already formed by the early twentieth century in the minds of writers who were primarily neither professional critics nor philosophers, but poets. Some were French (Mallarmé, and Valéry); others were not (Rilke, Bely, and the Russian avant-garde poet Velimir Khlebnikov). In them we find the same Edenic faith, the same effort to abandon it, and the same failure of that effort. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGerman--and particularly French--sources of the revolution that has occurred in literary theory during the past thirty years have long been recognized. The Russian contribution to these events has been hinted at previously, but Cassedy documents in detail the extraordinary work of Potebnya, Veselovskij, and other figures virtually unknown in the West. . . . An important contribution to intellectual history and literary theory.--Michael Holquist, author of \u003ci\u003eDostoevsky and the Novel\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"An astonishing number of complex movements and ideas--from Humboldt through Russian and French Symbolists to Heidegger, Husserl, Roman Jakobson and the deconstructors, from symbology to logology and iconology--begin to fit together in this wide-ranging and provocative book. . . . Cassedy's book will outrage some readers, delight others, and enlighten all.\"--Caryl Emerson, author of \u003ci\u003eBoris Godunov: Transpositions of a Russian Theme\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteven Cassedy\u003c\/b\u003e is Associate Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His \u003ci\u003eSelected Essays of Andrey Bely\u003c\/i\u003e is also available from California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 264\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.75 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 19, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42120964636807,"sku":"9780520371842","price":171.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/ef87437e70f3738f50e15d02d67c2611_f828cfe2-17ac-4dfd-a152-8e3ecb7a81f9.webp?v=1732550421","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/flight-from-eden-the-origins-of-modern-literary-criticism-and-theory-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}