Ignorance

Literature and agnoiology

Nonfiction, History, Military, World War I, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Ignorance by Andrew Bennett, Manchester University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew Bennett ISBN: 9781847796721
Publisher: Manchester University Press Publication: July 19, 2013
Imprint: Manchester University Press Language: English
Author: Andrew Bennett
ISBN: 9781847796721
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Publication: July 19, 2013
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Language: English

Andrew Bennett argues in this fascinating book that ignorance is part of the narrative and poetic force of literature and is an important aspect of its thematic focus: ignorance is what literary texts are about. He sees that the dominant conception of literature since the Romantic period involves an often unacknowledged engagement with the experience of not knowing.

From Wordsworth and Keats to George Eliot and Charles Dickens, from Henry James to Joseph Conrad, from Elizabeth Bowen to Philip Roth and Seamus Heaney, writers have been fascinated and compelled by the question of ignorance, including their own. Bennett argues that there is a politics and ethics as well as a poetics of ignorance: literature’s agnoiology, its acknowledgement of the limits of what we know both of ourselves and of others, engages with the possibility of democracy and the ethical, and allows us to begin to conceive of what it might mean to be human.

This exciting approach to literary theory will be of interest to lecturers and students of literary theory and criticism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Andrew Bennett argues in this fascinating book that ignorance is part of the narrative and poetic force of literature and is an important aspect of its thematic focus: ignorance is what literary texts are about. He sees that the dominant conception of literature since the Romantic period involves an often unacknowledged engagement with the experience of not knowing.

From Wordsworth and Keats to George Eliot and Charles Dickens, from Henry James to Joseph Conrad, from Elizabeth Bowen to Philip Roth and Seamus Heaney, writers have been fascinated and compelled by the question of ignorance, including their own. Bennett argues that there is a politics and ethics as well as a poetics of ignorance: literature’s agnoiology, its acknowledgement of the limits of what we know both of ourselves and of others, engages with the possibility of democracy and the ethical, and allows us to begin to conceive of what it might mean to be human.

This exciting approach to literary theory will be of interest to lecturers and students of literary theory and criticism.

More books from Manchester University Press

Cover of the book Government by referendum by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Women's work by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book The routes to exile by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Women and Irish diaspora identities by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book National Missile Defence and the politics of US identity by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Globalisation and Ideology in Britain by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Centre-left parties and the European Union by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Networks of Sound, Style and Subversion by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book A history of International Relations theory by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book The IRA 1956–69 by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Colonial connections, 1815–45 by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book The silent morning by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book The social construction of Swedish neutrality by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Rocks of nation by Andrew Bennett
Cover of the book Conversions by Andrew Bennett
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy