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Guest Column: The Fate of Reading Once More

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Geoffrey H. Hartman
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Extract

“The fate of reading,” a heavy phrase for which I bear some responsibility, suggests at least a subprophetic talent for anticipating future developments. When things get out of hand, when they seem to speed up, it is tempting to master by very large claims one's panic at being left behind, at becoming obsolete. In literary criticism too, someone redraws the map each year, but new movements quickly become as obsolete as those they displaced.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 111 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 383 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1996

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