Academic Instincts (ebook)

Argumento de Academic Instincts (ebook)

"Seductively slim, witty . . .The book is, in effect, an elegant demonstration of the nature of dialectical thinking as applied to some of the hot topics of the recent culture wars."--The Economist

"Academic Instincts reminds humanists and scientists alike that their professional languages require thoughtful attention, discussion, and scholarship."--John Ramsey, Ruminator Review

"I have been waiting for years for a book about my profession as vital and zesty as Academic Instincts. Now Marjorie Garber has written it with her customary fireworks, learning, and flair. It should change our minds about academic life--for the better."--Catharine R. Stimpson, New York University

"In Academic Instincts--a bravura inspection of various foibles and follies currently besetting the academic humanities--Marjorie Garber reveals herself as an ideal tour guide: energetic, canny, jocund, illuminating, and as wicked as she needs to be. Yet even as she skewers the amour-propre of contemporary pedants and pullulaters, she also offers a passionate defense of the intellectual enterprise itself. Garber's book is solace as well as sortie: a potent affirmation of our noblest 'academic instincts' and the quest after truth they continue to embody."--Terry Castle, Stanford University

"Marjorie Garber's Academic Instincts is a light, tripping, subtle argument in defense of the academic profession. It is itself a fascinating instance of refusing 'to have arbitrary lines drawn between things: between old masterpieces and contemporary works, between art and the rest of the world, between criticism and conversation.'"--Alexander Nehamas, Princeton University

"More breezy than scholarly in this book, Garber straddles the divide between the academy and the popular press with aplomb. Reading Academic Instincts is like sharing the newspaper with a current events junkie who can't help but comment on everything that catches her eye."--Leah Platt, American Prospect

"Garber's own writing is, as you would hope, admirably clear. She does a fine job of persuading us that these controversies are a sign of cultural vitality. . . ."--Jon Turney, New Scientist

"It is sometimes more provoking than provocative, but it is always interesting. In her willingness to theorize on just about any subject and her delight in taking eccentric positions, I don't believe there is anyone like Marjorie Garber writing today."--Katherine Govier, Toronto Globe and Mail0Preface ix
Chapter 1: The Amateur Professional and the Professional Amateur 3
Chapter 2: Discipline Envy 53
Chapter 3: Terms of Art 97
Notes: 149
Index 181