Pleasure and Change: The Aesthetics of Canon (Berkeley Tanner Lectures) [Hardcover]

Sir Frank Kermode (Author), Robert Alter (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195171373 | ISBN-13: 978-0195171372 | Publication Date: August 12, 2004

The question of the canon has been the subject of debate in academic circles for over fifteen years. Pleasure and Change contains two lectures on this important subject by the distinguished literary critic Sir Frank Kermode. In essays that were originally delivered as Tanner Lectures at Berkeley in November of 2001, Kermode reinterprets the question of canon formation in light of two related and central notions: pleasure and change. He asks how aesthetic pleasure informs what we find valuable, and how this perception changes over time. Kermode also explores the role of chance, observing the connections between canon formation and unintentional and sometimes even random circumstance. Geoffrey Hartmann (Yale University), John Guillory (New York University), and Carey Perloff (director of the American Conservatory Theatre) offer incisive comments on these essays, to which Kermode responds in a lively rejoinder. The volume begins with a helpful introduction by Robert Alter. The result is a stimulating and accessible discussion of a highly significant cultural debate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A refreshing departure from the nasty academic jousting that often passes for a debate about the canon.... [Kermode's] reasoned advocacy is a reminder why literature and criticism are equipment for living."--Bookforum

"Most impressive and satisfying.... It addresses the heritage and the literary culture of our time with greater subtlety than any other writing I know."--Charles Rosen, Times Literary Supplement (International Books of the Year 2004)

"Kermode's wit and impressive breadth of reference make Pleasure and Change a compelling contribution to a debate that shows no sign of approaching a resolution."--Adam Smyth, Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

Sir Frank Kermode is Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195171373
• ISBN-13: 978-0195171372
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,366,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sir Frank Kermode has been a prominent figure in the world of literary criticism since the 1960s. He has been King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge and Professor of Poetry at Harvard. He was knighted in 1991.