“No Crisis” considers the state of critical thinking and writing — literary interpretation, art history, and cultural studies — in the 21st century
“No Crisis” considers the state of critical thinking and writing — literary interpretation, art history, and cultural studies — in the 21st century. The last several years have been an era of crisis for the academic humanities, traditionally the home of the interpretive disciplines. Across the system of education in the United States there are, in fact, many crises. For our part, we see the crisis as the effect of economic and administrative decisions, not a failure of ideas. So, we asked a group of eminent critics to choose a recent critical text and to write about why it matters: not to coolly evaluate it but to stand and think with a critic whose writing they value. The essays produced are works of criticism in themselves; in them, and with “No Crisis,” we hope to show that the art of criticism is flourishing, rich with intellectual power and sustaining beauty, in hard times.
“No Crisis” considers the state of critical thinking and writing — literary interpretation, art history, and cultural studies — in the 21st century. The last several years have been an era of crisis for the academic humanities, traditionally the home of the interpretive disciplines. Across the system of education in the United States there are, in fact, many crises. For our part, we see the crisis as the effect of economic and administrative decisions, not a failure of ideas. So, we asked a group of eminent critics to choose a recent critical text and to write about why it matters: not to coolly evaluate it but to stand and think with a critic whose writing they value. The essays produced are works of criticism in themselves; in them, and with “No Crisis,” we hope to show that the art of criticism is flourishing, rich with intellectual power and sustaining beauty, in hard times.
These carefully selected articles, poems, interviews and essays — all written exclusively for this publication — appeal to readers with wide-ranging interests and a love for the literary. The new issue of the LARB Quarterly Journal includes:
- Feature essays by Michael W. Clune, Peter Coviello, Johanna Drucker, Jonathan Freedman, Diana Fuss, Kenneth Goldsmith, Virginia Jackson, Tavia Nyong’o, Namwali Serpell, Kathryn Bond Stockton, Kenneth W. Warren, Evan Calder Williams.
- Original poetry by Julie Kantor, Dorothea Lasky, Robin Coste Lewis, Lo Kwa Mei-en, Andrew Nance, Margaret Ronda, Brian Teare.
- Including an Artist Portfolio and profile of Andrea Bowers.
Introducing “No Crisis” by Merve Emre, Sarah Mesle, and Caleb Smith
Uses of Criticism by Namwali Serpell
From LAND by Julie Kantor
Against Common Sense by Michael W. Clune
The start of the free and natural by Dorothea Lasky
Difficult Love by Peter Coviello
Babel / Constitution by Lo Kwa Mei-en
Reading as Kissing, Sex with Ideas: “Lesbian” Barebacking? by Kathryn Bond Stockton
On the Road to Sri Bhuvaneshwari by Robin Coste Lewis
Artist Portfolio: Andrea Bowers
The Function of Criticism at the Present Time by Virginia Jackson
Recognizing Complicity by Johanna Drucker
Second Nature by Andrew Nance
It’s a Mistake to Mistake Content for Content by Kenneth Goldsmith
The People Downstairs by Diana Fuss
For Hunger by Margaret Ronda
You Tell Me It’s the Institution: Creative Writing and Literary History by Kenneth W. Warren
If we are completely without direction our minds will tell us the next step to take. by Brian Teare
What’s Love Got to Do With It?: Love and Theft in the 21st Century by Jonathan Freedman
Adrian Piper’s Critical Investigation by Tavia Nyong’o
No, Crisis by Evan Calder Williams
