Wittgenstein and Literary Studies

Brings together recent literary scholars and philosophers of a Wittgensteinian bent, highlighting a shared understanding of language, judgment, and interpretation.

Robert Chodat (Edited by), John Gibson (Edited by)

9781108833219, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 February 2023

228 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.47 kg

Wittgenstein is often regarded as the most important philosopher of the twentieth century, and in recent decades, his work has begun to play a prominent role in literary studies, particularly in debates over language, interpretation, and critical judgment. Wittgenstein and Literary Studies solidifies this critical movement, assembling recent critics and philosophers who understand Wittgenstein as a counterweight to longstanding tendencies in both literary studies and philosophical aesthetics. The essays here cover a wide range of topics. Why have contemporary writers been so drawn to Wittgenstein? What is a Wittgensteinian response to New Historicism, Post-Critique, and other major critical movements? How does Wittgenstein help us understand the nature of style, fiction, poetry, and the link between ethics and aesthetics? As the volume makes clear, Wittgenstein's work provides a rare bridge between professional philosophy and literary studies, offering us a way out of entrenched positions and their denials-what Wittgenstein himself called 'pictures' 'that held us captive.'

Introduction Robert Chodat and John Gibson
1. Writing after Wittgenstein Michael LeMahieu
2. A Wittgensteinian phenomenology of criticism Toril Moi
3. Appreciating material: criticism, science, and the very idea of method Robert Chodat
4. A vision of language for literary historians: forms of life, context, use Sarah Beckwith
5. Wittgenstein and the prospects for a contemporary literary humanism Espen Hammer
6. Storied thoughts: Wittgenstein and the reaches of fiction Magdalena Ostas
7. Wittgenstein and lyric Hannah Vandegrift Eldridge
8. Life, logic, style: on late Wittgenstein Henry Pickford
9. Wittgenstein's apocalyptic subjectivity Benjamin Ware.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy, from c 1900 - [HPCF], Literary theory [DSA]