Description
Considered to be the founding father of British cultural theory, Williams was concerned throughout his life to apply a materialist and socialist analysis to all forms of culture, defined generously and inclusively as "structures of feeling." In this major work, Williams applies himself to the problem of modernism. Rejecting stereotypes and simplifications, he is especially preoccupied with the ambivalent relationship between revolutionary socialist politics and the artistic avant-garde. Judiciously assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the modernist project, Williams shifts the framework of discussion from merely formal analysis of artistic techniques to one which grounds these cultural expressions in particular social formations. Animating the whole book is the question which Williams poses and brings us significantly closer to answering: namely, what does it mean to develop a cultural analysis that goes "beyond the modern" and yet avoids the trap of postmodernism's "new conformism"?
The founding father of cultural theory posits a radical new direction for avant-garde art
About the Author
Raymond Williams was born in 1921 in the Welsh border village of Pandy, and was educated at the village school, at Abergavenny Grammar School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1961 and was later appointed University Professor of Drama.
His books include Culture and Society (1958), The Long Revolution (1961) and its sequel Towards 2000 (1983); Communications (1962) and Television: Technology and Cultural Form (1974); Drama in Performance (1954), Modern Tragedy (1966) and Drama from Ibsen to Brecht (1968); The English Novel from Dickens to Lawrence (1970), Orwell (1971) and The Country and the City (1973); Politics and Letters (interviews) (1979) and Problems in Materialism and Culture (selected essays) (1980); and four novels - the Welsh trilogy of Border Country (1960), Second Generation (1964) and The Fight for Manod (1979), and The Volunteers (1978).
Reviews
A toughly analytic mind is fueled by the rich emotional resources of a creative writer. -- Terry Eagleton
Williams is the Western thinker who, along with Antonio Gramsci, has done most to enlarge our understanding of the political complexities of culture. * Village Voice *
Book Information
ISBN 9781844675807
Author Raymond Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 250g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 20mm
The founding father of cultural theory posits a radical new direction for avant-garde art
About the Author
Raymond Williams was born in 1921 in the Welsh border village of Pandy, and was educated at the village school, at Abergavenny Grammar School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1961 and was later appointed University Professor of Drama.
His books include Culture and Society (1958), The Long Revolution (1961) and its sequel Towards 2000 (1983); Communications (1962) and Television: Technology and Cultural Form (1974); Drama in Performance (1954), Modern Tragedy (1966) and Drama from Ibsen to Brecht (1968); The English Novel from Dickens to Lawrence (1970), Orwell (1971) and The Country and the City (1973); Politics and Letters (interviews) (1979) and Problems in Materialism and Culture (selected essays) (1980); and four novels - the Welsh trilogy of Border Country (1960), Second Generation (1964) and The Fight for Manod (1979), and The Volunteers (1978).
Reviews
A toughly analytic mind is fueled by the rich emotional resources of a creative writer. -- Terry Eagleton
Williams is the Western thinker who, along with Antonio Gramsci, has done most to enlarge our understanding of the political complexities of culture. * Village Voice *
Book Information
ISBN 9781844675807
Author Raymond Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 250g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 20mm
