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Cultural Studies

Truths Too Terrible: On Arthur Schnitzler and Franz Kafka
LARB presents an excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s “The Blessing and the Curse: The Jewish People and Their Books in the Twentieth Century.”...
Adam KirschOct 8, 2020
Why Look at Flying Saucers?
On the trail of bigfoot hunters and UFO enthusiasts....
Benjamin Aldes WurgaftOct 7, 2020
- Cultural Studies
What We Talk About When We Talk About Magical Realism
Fernando Sdrigotti seeks to break Latin American writers free from the magical realism pigeonhole....
Fernando SdrigottiOct 2, 2020
The Great Anti-Left Show
Right-wing media defines itself by a caricature of what they’re against....
Anthony NadlerOct 2, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Politics and Economics
We Had Witnessed an Exhibition: On Thomas Doherty’s “Little Lindy Is Kidnapped”
Chris Yogerst reviews Thomas Doherty’s cultural history of the Lindbergh kidnapping....
Chris YogerstSep 24, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- History
“He Drank It Black”: On Dinah Lenney’s “Coffee”
Markman Ellis soaks up “Coffee,” a “fluid, involving” object lesson by Dinah Lenney....
Markman EllisSep 16, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Memoir
The Nature Scam
Mark Trecka reviews "Natural: How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science," the new book from Alan Levinovitz....
Mark TreckaSep 16, 2020
Memory in Crisis: On Judith Schalansky’s “An Inventory of Losses”
A catalog of lost objects raises questions about history and memory in our age of mass protest....
Fiona BellSep 13, 2020
The Work of Analogy: On Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents”
A sweeping new book reevaluates the American conception of race and class....
Anupama RaoSep 1, 2020
No Mere Slogans: On Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents”
Yogita Goyal reviews Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”...
Yogita GoyalSep 1, 2020
Land of Milk and Money
Mark Goble tries "The Dairy Restaurant," the new graphic history from Ben Katchor....
Mark GobleAug 31, 2020
Heartbroken Patriots
Greil Marcus’s new book interrogates American myths of success and belonging via adaptations and revisionings of “The Great Gatsby.”...
Robert LossAug 29, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Politics and Economics
Right There in Blank and White
Megan Ward investigates the relationship between blankness and whiteness...
Megan WardAug 27, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Memoir
To Ascend into Secrets: Speaking the Pandemic
Ian Dreiblatt traces “the surprising, powerful change that can be driven by a crisis of human proximities.”...
Ian DreiblattAug 22, 2020
The Institutional Gaze of the School
Griselda Pollock looks at "School Photos in Liquid Time," a new book by Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer....
Griselda PollockAug 21, 2020
A Nation Wrongs Itself: On American Pain and the Puritan Ethic
David Stromberg gets to the root of the puritan ethic....
David StrombergAug 19, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Politics and Economics
Gimme More: On Sianne Ngai’s “Theory of the Gimmick”
Andrew Koenig reviews "Theory of the Gimmick," the new book from Sianne Ngai....
Andrew KoenigAug 10, 2020
- Cultural Studies
Showdown at the Translation Saloon: On Lawrence Venuti’s “Contra Instrumentalism: A Translation Polemic”
Jan Steyn takes on “Contra Instrumentalism: A Translation Polemic” by Lawrence Venuti....
Jan SteynAug 2, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Nonfiction
When the Chronically Ill Go into Remission: Filmmaker Jennifer Brea’s Life After “Unrest”
Megan Moodie details her own experiences with chronic pain and illness alongside a critical assessment of Jennifer Brea’s documentary “Unrest” (2017)....
Megan MoodieJul 17, 2020
Part of a Larger Battle: A Conversation with Thomas Chatterton Williams
Otis Houston follows up with Thomas Chatterton Williams, author of “Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race.”...
Otis HoustonJul 16, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Politics and Economics
Why Gregory Bateson Matters
Ted Gioia reconsiders Gregory Bateson, whose counterculture classic, “Steps to an Ecology of Mind,” is eerily relevant again in our current crisis....
Ted GioiaJul 4, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Nonfiction
The Stations of Life: On “We Are Pilgrims: Journeys in Search of Ourselves”
A book on global pilgrimages is tone-deaf about theology but still wide-ranging and useful....
Tanjil RashidJun 7, 2020
What Do They Know of English, Who Only English Know? On Gaston Dorren’s “Lingo: Around Europe in Sixty Languages” and “Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages”
Colin Marshall explores the allure of polyglotism and the perils of linguistic hegemony through “Lingo” and “Babel” by Gaston Dorren....
Colin MarshallJun 3, 2020
“All It Takes Is Inexhaustible Patience, Limitless Time, and a Warped Mind”: A Conversation with Adrienne Raphel
Stephanie Burt talks to Adrienne Raphel about crosswords and her latest book, “Thinking Inside the Box.”...
Stephanie BurtMay 27, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Nonfiction