The Fateful Question of Culture (The Wellek Library Lectures)

Recipient of the 1998 Rene Wellek Prize, American Comparative Literature Association; Finalist for the 29th Annual James Russell Lowell Prize, MLA ( Modern Language Association) One of our most incisive critics asks where the assault against the canons of Western culture has led us. Engaging a wide range of literature and criticism, Hartman considers the term "culture" and its many uses, and calls for the restoration of literature to its place as the focus of thinking about culture and for the renewal of aesthetic education to help ensure the balance between art, culture, and politics.