Continuing on Sontag's essays “On Style” (1965) and "The Death of Tragedy” (1963). We keep talking about the appropriate distance to retain (or not) to a work of art, which is supposed to be relevant to moral action in the world. Art give us models of consciousness, of ways of being, with which we can identify. So what does all this mean for the evaluation of tragedy that Continue Reading …
Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Part One)
On Sontag's essays “Against Interpretation” (1964), “On Style” (1965), and "The Death of Tragedy” (1963). What is it to understand a work of art? Sontag objects to critics' need to decode or translate literature into it's "meaning" or "content," divorcing it in the process from how this content is embodied. She argues that this content vs. form distinction isn't tenable; Continue Reading …
Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Citizen Edition)
On Sontag's essays “Against Interpretation” (1964), “On Style” (1965), and "The Death of Tragedy” (1963). What is it to understand a work of art? Sontag objects to critics' need to decode or translate literature into it's "meaning" or "content," divorcing it in the process from how this content is embodied. She argues that this content vs. form distinction isn't tenable; Continue Reading …
Ep. 243: Aristotle’s “Poetics” on Art and Tragedy (Part Two)
Continuing on the Poetics from around 335 BCE, on the structure of plot (every element must be essential!), the moral status of the heroes, Homeric poetry, the difference between tragedy and history, and how Aristotle's formula may or may not apply to modern media. Wes maintains that tragedy does offer a unique, psychologically central benefit to us: Hanna Segal's "A Continue Reading …
Ep. 243: Aristotle’s “Poetics” on Art and Tragedy (Part One)
These probably-lecture-notes from around 335 BCE are still used in screenwriting classes today: Aristotle serves up a formula for what will most move us, derived from Sophocles's tragedies like Oedipus Rex. What is art? Aristotle says it's mimesis (imitation), and fiction (poetry) is imitation of human action in particular, in a manner that shows us what human nature is all Continue Reading …
Ep. 243: Aristotle’s “Poetics” on Art and Tragedy (Citizen Edition)
These probably-lecture-notes from around 335 BCE are still used in screenwriting classes today: Aristotle serves up a formula for what will most move us, derived from Sophocles's tragedies like Oedipus Rex. What is art? Aristotle says it's mimesis (imitation), and fiction (poetry) is imitation of human action in particular, in a manner that shows us what human nature is all Continue Reading …
Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part Two)
Continuing on Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969), shifting away from Lear in particular to a more general discussion of tragedy and Cavell's psychological insights. Begin with Part One or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL! End song: "Out of Your Hands" by Gretchen's Wheel, i.e., Lindsay Murray, as interviewed Continue Reading …
Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part One)
On Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969). Can money buy you love? What is tragedy? In this first Mark-free episode ever, Wes's new (sub)Text co-host, the poet Erin O'Luanaigh, joins Wes, Seth, and Dylan to discuss this major figure in literary theory. To get the most out of this, check out some performance of King Lear or just read the plot Continue Reading …
Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Citizen Edition)
On Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969). Can money buy you love? What is tragedy? In this first Mark-free episode ever, Wes's new (sub)Text co-host, the poet Erin O'Luanaigh, joins Wes, Seth, and Dylan to discuss this major figure in literary theory. To get the most out of this, check out some performance of King Lear or just read the plot Continue Reading …
Ep. 189: Authorial Intent (Barthes, Foucault, Beardsley, et al) (Part Two)
Continuing on "The Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes (1967) and "What Is an Author?" by Michel Foucault (1969), and finally getting to “Against Theory” by Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels (1982). What could it mean to say that a text, once written, speaks itself, that it no longer really has an author? We get into the specific critiques Foucault has of the cult of Continue Reading …
Ep. 189 Follow-Up: Authorial Intent (Citizens Only)
Thanks to you, our supporters, who by contributing your hard-earned cash have enabled us to record extra discussions like this one. Enough folks expressed appreciation for our free-speech follow-up that we thought we'd do another one. You'll want to listen to ep 189 before this. Our new text for this follow-up discussion is from the Stanford Encyclopedia on theories of Continue Reading …
Ep. 189: Authorial Intent (Barthes, Foucault, Beardsley, et al) (Part One)
On four essays about how to interpret artworks: “The Intentional Fallacy” by W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley (1946), "The Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes (1967), "What Is an Author?" by Michel Foucault (1969), and “Against Theory” by Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels (1982). When you're trying to figure out what, say, a poem means, isn't the best way to do that Continue Reading …
TEASER-Episode 169: Analyzing Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” (Part Two)
So you listened to part 1, did you, and you've let the suspense build? You heard and maybe read (in the episode description) the hints of Jacques Lacan and existentialism, but will a coherent analysis come together? Will you get a clear idea of what it means to say that "there is no sexual relationship" and know whether the depiction of sexuality in the film should really apply Continue Reading …
Episode 75: Lacan & Derrida Criticize Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” (Citizens Only)
On Jacques Lacan's "Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter'" (1956), Jacques Derrida's "The Purveyor of Truth" (1975), and other essays in the collection The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading. How should philosophers approach literature? Lacan read Edgar Allen Poe's story about a sleuth who outthinks a devious Minister as an illustration of his model of the Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 75: Lacan & Derrida Criticize Poe’s “The Purloined Letter”
This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more Continue Reading …