Frank farrell why does literature matter

Sebald, and John Updike. In addition to his close readings of literary, philosophical, and critical texts, Farrell considers cultural studies and postcolonial studies more generally and speculates on the possible contributions of object-relations theory in psychology to the study of literature. About the Author Frank B. More Details Contributor: Frank B. Delivery Options Home Delivery. Store Delivery. Free Returns We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us.

However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy. Many have found postmodernism's approach to language and literature to be troubling insofar as it appears to detach language and communication from the world that we experience.

Frank B. Farrell's book Why Does Literature Matter? Figures such as Rorty, Derrida, de Man, and Perloff provide the target for the case against the postmodernist view, and Farrell comments on and provides interpretations of the work of literary figures such as Cormac McCarthy, Beckett, James Merrill, John Ashberry, Proust, and John Updike, among many others.

Farrell's argument can be divided into two distinct moments. The first argues for a conception of language, rationality, meaning, and reference that is supposed to demonstrate that the linguistic views of Rorty and Derrida cannot be right. The second provides interpretations of texts themselves. Farrell develops a set of characteristics that he takes to be central to literary works and shows how his method of interpretation can be seen to be more cognitively and emotionally fulfilling than the postmodern interpretations that he attacks.

Farrell's positive account of language relies on the work of Davidson, McDowell, and Wittgenstein. According to Farrell, these philosophers strike a balance between the conventional nature of language and the sense that our words really mean something. This view holds that our language is a complex enough mechanism that, when understood properly, requires acknowledgment of its connection to our actual experience as human practitioners of language in the world.

In general, Farrell's particular view of literature can be characterized by observing two separate but related features. First, Farrell's view is what philosophers might call a form of naturalism. Farrell believes that literature is a product of natural and normal human experiences. Literature is a form of communication by which some individual can express his or her concerns, values, and feelings and communicate them to readers, all under the assumption that the content of the work is important—something we would all like to know about.

The second feature is that Farrell understands the relevant natural human responses to literature as being primarily psychological in nature. By this, I mean that Farrell takes human psychological development seriously, both in using literary examples that exemplify moments of human psychological development and in using theories of human psychology to ground his account. Both of these practices attend to what Farrell refers to as internal features of works of literature. Internal features can be understood in contrast to external features that critics have taken to be relevant.

For example, New Historicism holds that works of literature are the products of certain historical circumstances, and a proper interpretation of a text will focus on those external historical circumstances that make the text possible. On the other hand, the content of a work of literature provides grist for Farrell's mill insofar as the content contains representations of real features of human experience, psychological and otherwise.

Much of Farrell's text is devoted to providing interpretations of novels and poems that exemplify these particular features. To say that the space of literature is metaphysical is to recognize that literature does more than simply present us with banal moral platitudes or captivating stories and characters. Indeed, literature presents us not just with a world that is populated by characters, but also a world that has a particular tone or flavor or color to it.

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