Cultural Studies

"Culture is an instrument wielded by professors to manufacture professors." — Simone Weil

Speaking of the Working Class: On Richard Hoggart
Steven Gotzler on the legacy of Richard Hoggart’s “The Uses of Literacy.”
Steven GotzlerApr 25, 2018
- Cultural Studies
The Dark Side of Nice
D. Berton Emerson on Carrie Tirado Bramen’s “American Niceness: A Cultural History”
D. Berton EmersonApr 22, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- History
Nomads
On Jessica Bruder's "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century."
Justin Tyler ClarkApr 4, 2018
Getting to the Middle of Nowhere: On Jon K. Lauck’s “From Warm Center to Ragged Edge”
Stephanie Foote navigates “From Warm Center to Ragged Edge: The Erosion of Midwestern Literary and Historical Regionalism, 1920–1965” by Jon K. Lauck.
Stephanie FooteMar 18, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Literary Criticism
Radical Optimization: On “Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement”
On Carl Cederström and André Spicer's "Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement" and the obsession with optimization in a neoliberal world.
Peter BloomMar 14, 2018
A Messiah-cum-Surrogate-Dad for Gormless Dimwits: On Jordan B. Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life”
Houman Barekat questions “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” by Jordan B. Peterson.
Houman BarekatMar 8, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Philosophy & Religion
Whose Survival Is Wrapped Up in Mine: An Interview with Benjamin Bateman
Alex Espinoza talks with Benjamin Bateman about his new book, “The Modernist Art of Queer Survival.”
Alex EspinozaFeb 25, 2018
Let Me Take a Selfie: Possibility, Performativity, and Politics in Alicia Eler’s “The Selfie Generation”
Alicia Eler’s “The Selfie Generation” dilates on perhaps the seminal photographic genre of our time to think about its possibilities and pitfalls.
Hollis GriffinJan 26, 2018
Reading Bad
Bruce Robbins reads Merve Emre's "Paraliterary: The Making of Bad Readers in Postwar America."
Bruce RobbinsJan 21, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Literary Criticism
What We Talk About When We Talk About Translation
Deborah Smith, whose rendition of Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” won the Man Booker International Prize, reflects on the controversies of translation.
Deborah SmithJan 11, 2018
An A to Z of Iain Sinclair on the Occasion of the American Publication of “The Last London: True Fictions from an Unreal City”
Geoff Nicholson goes through the alphabet to describe the multifaceted work of Iain Sinclair.
Geoff NicholsonJan 9, 2018
- Around the World
- Cultural Studies
To Petrify Time: On Grigory Kanovich’s “Shtetl Love Song” and Sergey Kanovich’s Lost Shtetl Project
Linda Kinstler considers two Lithuanian Jewish memorial endeavors, Grigory Kanovich's novel “Shtetl Love Song” and his son Sergey’s “Lost Shtetl” project.
Linda KinstlerJan 3, 2018