Mapping the Ethical Turn

by Todd F. Davis (Editor), Kenneth Womack (Editor)

Divided into four descriptive sections--"Theory and the Ethics of Literary Text," "Confronting the Difficult: The Ethics of Race and Power," "Making Darkness Visible: The Ethical Implications of Narrative as Witness," and "Ways of Seeing: The Diversity of Applied Ethical Criticism"--this unprecedented collection of essays traces the interpretive, pedagogic, and theoretical concerns inherent in the study of literature, ethics, and modes of criticism. Wayne C. Booth's "Why Ethical Criticism Can Never Be Simple," J. Hillis Miller's "How to Be 'in Tune with the Right' in The Golden Bowl," Susan Gubar's "Poets of Testimony," and Martha C. Nussbaum's "Exactly and Responsibly: A Defense of Ethical Criticism" are among the fifteen essays included. Bringing together ethical criticism's most important theorists, Mapping the Ethical Turn is a cohesive introduction to a reading paradigm that continues to influence the ways in which we think and feel about the stories that mark our lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

296 pages, Paperback

Published November 29, 2001

About the author

Todd F. Davis is an award-winning American poet, critic, and professor of English and Environmental Studies at Penn State Altoona. He has published eight poetry collections, including Ripe, The Least of These, Winterkill, and Ditch Memory: New & Selected Poems. His work has appeared in major journals such as The Iowa Review, Shenandoah, and The Gettysburg Review, and has been featured by Garrison Keillor and Ted Kooser. Davis has also co-edited literary anthologies and authored critical works on postmodern humanism. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and sons.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent book for an overview of the debates surrounding and approaches to ethical criticism but I'd still recommend going straight to Booth or Phelan's book-length works to get a better (and clearer) idea about what people are talking about and how.