Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon FormationUniversity of Chicago Press, 1993 - 392 pages John Guillory challenges the most fundamental premises of the canon debate by resituating the problem of canon formation in an entirely new theoretical framework. The result is a book that promises to recast not only the debate about the literary curriculum but also the controversy over "multiculturalism" and the current "crisis of the humanities." Employing concepts drawn from Pierre Bourdieu's sociology, Guillory argues that canon formation must be understood less as a question of the representation of social groups than as a question of the distribution of "cultural capital" in the schools, which regulate access to literacy, to the practices of reading and writing. |
Contents
Canonical and Noncanonical The Current Debate | 3 |
Case Studies | 83 |
Mute Inglorious Miltons Gray Wordsworth | 85 |
Ideology and Canonical Form The New Critical Canon | 134 |
Literature after Theory The Lesson of Paul de Man | 176 |
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic aesthetic value analysis argues argument authors autonomy Barbara Herrnstein Smith Bourdieu bourgeoisie bureaucratic canon debate canon formation charismatic authority classical commodity concept consumption context critique cultural capital cultural production deconstruction defined diglossia disciples discipleship discourse of value distinction dominant effect Elegy Eliot's emergence English essay exchange value expressed fact function genres grammar Gray's Hence heteroglossia historical identity politics ideology imaginary institutional judgment linguistic literary canon literary culture literary curriculum literary language literary theory literature logic Man's Manian Marxist mass culture means metaphor metonymy Milton minor modern narrative noncanonical object paradox pedagogic philosophical Pierre Bourdieu poem poet poetic poetry political economy practice problem prose question relation represented reproduction rhetorical reading rigor sense signifier Smith social identity sociolect specific structure syllabus synecdoche terminology texts thematic theoretical tion tradition trans transference trope University Press vernacular Warrington Academy writing