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Introducing Graphic Guides
Introducing Critical Theory
This book provides a route through a jungle of competing theories. It puts into context recent developments by situating them within the longer-term tradition of critical analysis ― back to the rise of Marxism.
176 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
June 13, 2017
Of all the books in the Graphic Guide series, this is perhaps the worst; not because of its subject matter (which is immensely interesting), but because of its structure (or lack thereof).
Normally these books assume you don't know anything about the subject except, perhaps, for a few ideas that have made their way into popular culture, which is the reasonable thing to do considering people most likely approach these books hoping for a gentle, bite-sized introduction to the subject, however superficial it may be. But this book is a major exception to the rule: After the first 40 pages or so, it starts throwing jargon at you with no indication whatsoever that there's a glossary at the end of book, making reading this as an ebook extremely inconvenient. Not that the glossary is that helpful in this instance, considering many 'definitions' thereby found are nothing but exercises in writting at length without conveying any kind of meaningful message.
If you're somewhat familiar with philosophy, critical theory and some of its terminology, you should be able to read this book just fine without resorting to using the glossary every couple of pages, or looking things up in the SEP/IEP. Otherwise, don't bother.
Normally these books assume you don't know anything about the subject except, perhaps, for a few ideas that have made their way into popular culture, which is the reasonable thing to do considering people most likely approach these books hoping for a gentle, bite-sized introduction to the subject, however superficial it may be. But this book is a major exception to the rule: After the first 40 pages or so, it starts throwing jargon at you with no indication whatsoever that there's a glossary at the end of book, making reading this as an ebook extremely inconvenient. Not that the glossary is that helpful in this instance, considering many 'definitions' thereby found are nothing but exercises in writting at length without conveying any kind of meaningful message.
If you're somewhat familiar with philosophy, critical theory and some of its terminology, you should be able to read this book just fine without resorting to using the glossary every couple of pages, or looking things up in the SEP/IEP. Otherwise, don't bother.
September 7, 2007
I was one of those people who would be like, "what the f are these people talking about???" whenever I'd here critical theory arguments against things like math, logic, science, etc. from folks at Cornell. Thanks to this book, I see that the whole genre or approach is not a total sham, but rather some of its ideological aggressors (read: students with little understanding of other approaches).
This is a nice visually stimulating way to be introduced to this world, its giants, and the historical progression. The only problem is, sometimes the brief synopses would be written in discipline-specific jargon and warranted more explanation for a layman. But I guess that has been happening surprisingly infrequently given the ground covered. We'll see if anything changes by the end...
Okay, now I'm done, and nothing has changed. I finished it like a month ago and kind of forget all the jargon I learned, but I guess the book will be handy if I ever I need any.
This is a nice visually stimulating way to be introduced to this world, its giants, and the historical progression. The only problem is, sometimes the brief synopses would be written in discipline-specific jargon and warranted more explanation for a layman. But I guess that has been happening surprisingly infrequently given the ground covered. We'll see if anything changes by the end...
Okay, now I'm done, and nothing has changed. I finished it like a month ago and kind of forget all the jargon I learned, but I guess the book will be handy if I ever I need any.
January 13, 2016
I confess this is only the second graphic novel I have ever read--I feel like my eyes exhausted their energy scanning images rather than devouring lines of text. Please, forgive me for that. To each his, hers, its, or their own.
This visual compendium of Critical Theory is a speedy overview of a great tool--with its few dozen attachments--for "putting our culture under the microscope." I had some familiarity with the concepts which I remember from my undergraduate coursework in intellectual history and philosophy, but struggled to hold onto the ideas. The presentation is so cursory--limited by the style of book--that I not only struggled to retain the concepts as I turned to the next page, but I felt like I was grasping at each page to really comprehend it. So many ideas were new, and would require further investigation before I think most people (especially myself) would be able to really appreciate them. For this reason, I believe this book serves better as a review for somebody who wants to brush up on Critical Theory rather than an introduction to it. While it fails here, I think it succeeds in piquing the reader's interest in the discipline at large. It provides a solid list of notable further readings and a somewhat helpful glossary--whose text is equivalent to the text throughout the rest of the book.
If somebody is interested in Critical Theory, but doesn't know where to begin, I would suggest they begin by flipping through this book. Once they stumble upon something startling, and intriguing, they should find a book from the further readings to really get something meaty. Sim and Van Loon wisp through many schools of thought including Marxism, Post-Marxism, Structuralism, Postfeminism, Postcolonialism, Queer Theory, Black Criticism, and New Historicism.
This works best as a casual tease for those who want to know more about Critical Theory, but aren't sure that want to commit themselves to reading or thinking about anything. Maybe give it to your anti-authoritarian, angsty son or daughter as a going-off to college present?
This visual compendium of Critical Theory is a speedy overview of a great tool--with its few dozen attachments--for "putting our culture under the microscope." I had some familiarity with the concepts which I remember from my undergraduate coursework in intellectual history and philosophy, but struggled to hold onto the ideas. The presentation is so cursory--limited by the style of book--that I not only struggled to retain the concepts as I turned to the next page, but I felt like I was grasping at each page to really comprehend it. So many ideas were new, and would require further investigation before I think most people (especially myself) would be able to really appreciate them. For this reason, I believe this book serves better as a review for somebody who wants to brush up on Critical Theory rather than an introduction to it. While it fails here, I think it succeeds in piquing the reader's interest in the discipline at large. It provides a solid list of notable further readings and a somewhat helpful glossary--whose text is equivalent to the text throughout the rest of the book.
If somebody is interested in Critical Theory, but doesn't know where to begin, I would suggest they begin by flipping through this book. Once they stumble upon something startling, and intriguing, they should find a book from the further readings to really get something meaty. Sim and Van Loon wisp through many schools of thought including Marxism, Post-Marxism, Structuralism, Postfeminism, Postcolonialism, Queer Theory, Black Criticism, and New Historicism.
This works best as a casual tease for those who want to know more about Critical Theory, but aren't sure that want to commit themselves to reading or thinking about anything. Maybe give it to your anti-authoritarian, angsty son or daughter as a going-off to college present?
January 30, 2018
I bought this cute little book on impulse while on vacation hoping it might be a fun way to fill in some gaps in my critical theory knowledge. While I learned more about the connections between theorists of the early 20th century and their takes on Marxism, the edition left much to be desired in terms of identity politics. The book fails to even mention intersectionality or disability studies. To be fair, the publisher has put out other editions that focus solely on feminism, cultural studies and also postmodernism. I was mostly surprised that I was naïve enough to ignore the fact that the foundation of critical theory was built upon white male patriarchy. This says a lot about my feminist-centered education, of which I am proud; however, it’s Frustrating to me that the grand narrative of critical theory was presented as so monolithic in this small seemingly attractive book.
July 8, 2017
Özellikle edebiyat alanında eser eleştirisinde kullanılan kuramları kısa kısa tanıtan ve metinleri çizimlerle destekleyen güzel bir kitap.
Marksizm, feminizm, göstergebilim, psikanaliz vb. alanların edebi eseri daha iyi anlamlandırma adına nasıl kullanıldığını kısaca anlatıyor. Benim gibi yarım yamalak bilgisi olanlar için iyi bir başlangıç olacaktır.
Tüm anlattıklarını belirli bir bağlamda birleştirdiği için eleştirel teori alanına genel bir bakış atabiliyorsunuz. Kitabın arkasına, daha ayrıntılı okumalar için bir kitap listesi ve bilinmeyen terimler için bir sözlükçe eklenmiş. Denk gelirse bir göz atın derim.
Marksizm, feminizm, göstergebilim, psikanaliz vb. alanların edebi eseri daha iyi anlamlandırma adına nasıl kullanıldığını kısaca anlatıyor. Benim gibi yarım yamalak bilgisi olanlar için iyi bir başlangıç olacaktır.
Tüm anlattıklarını belirli bir bağlamda birleştirdiği için eleştirel teori alanına genel bir bakış atabiliyorsunuz. Kitabın arkasına, daha ayrıntılı okumalar için bir kitap listesi ve bilinmeyen terimler için bir sözlükçe eklenmiş. Denk gelirse bir göz atın derim.
December 15, 2020
Not the best of introductions... pretty scattered and trying to include too many things, leaving you with no good explanation to what is critical theory, but a survey on the academic trends of the 20th century.
August 19, 2019
My intention was to use it as an idea generator for things to read more about / think about, and it performed that function more than adequately.
December 25, 2020
Super helpful. I really like the graphic guide format as a way to introduce complex conversations, theories, perspectives, etc.
Again, the 5 star is about how helpful, how illuminating, well-written it was. Not about whether I align with the perspective. I don't know enough here to assess accuracy of the book's assessment of these different thinkers.
Again, the 5 star is about how helpful, how illuminating, well-written it was. Not about whether I align with the perspective. I don't know enough here to assess accuracy of the book's assessment of these different thinkers.
July 24, 2022
Lovely introduction and overview in a very digestible format.
June 24, 2023
Excellent introduction for the curious lay person, good guide to who to read in what order.
March 8, 2022
A good, fairly well-structured overview. It did what it said on the cover. I was lucky I was already familiar with many of the theories, otherwise the jargon may have been overwhelming.
Some thoughts:
- Critical theory - cultural artefacts are tested against the given projection of the world as it is, or should be, constructed
- Criticism is never "value-free" - how we arrive at value judgments, and whether we can make value judgments, just as important as what the value judgment actually is
- Theory is always implicit - assumptions taken for granted rather than self-conscious
- Ideology = assumptions that are taken for granted
- See photos for a map of the origins of critical theory
Theorists, their core ideas and texts:
- liberal humanists - ennobling power of literature
- New Critics - literature has an organic unity
- Alan Sokal - big science. Article in Social Text "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" hoax about extreme relativism. W/ Bricmont "Intellectual Imposters: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science" - pretentious and amateurish misuse of recent physics.
- G. W. F. Hegel - alienation in logic, contradiction latent in all thinking which means one idea will inherently invoke its opposite. Consciousness precedes by synthesising in a continuous spiral upward to self-realization. Dialectical - inadequacy of one form of conscious turns into another, over an over. Consciousness of a subject (thesis) becomes a subject of thought (antithesis) then higher stage of synthesis/self-consciousness. History a journey of the "World Spirit" in progress through stages towards self-realization (Absolute Spirit).
- Marx - texts are the site of both (culture <- idealism ("in your head") <-> alienation (as conscious process)) and (socio-economics <- meterialism ("really existing") <-> alienation (as unconscious, hidden or estranged process)). Alienation is an unconscious estrangement from oneself determined by one's class condition (false consciousness)
- Georgi Plekhanov - Russian aesthetician - crude reflectionism/reflection theory - art shows period's ideological character
- Socialist realism - art no longer elite or experimental - anti-modernism
- Georg Lukacs - first Western Marxist - "History and Class Consciousness" - reject determinism of Marxism, revolution not inevitable. "Theory of the Novel" - link novel to rise of bourgeois culture, individual establishing his or her place in a competitive world. Praised realists like Thomas Mann, critiqued those who say mankind as essentially alienated for metaphysical reasons like Franz Kafka. Thought modernism presented distorted view of reality that inhibited political action.
- Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin - modernist and Marxist - against Lukacs. Epic theatre - political agenda self-consciously brought to attention of audience - does not reproduce conditions but reveal them - didactic - "alienation effect".
- Modernist artists - James Joyce, Samual Beckett and William Faulkner
- Gramsci - hegemony makes ideology unrecognizable as such by making it the "natural" and "normal" way of thinking. Power of knowledge.
- Frankfurt School - Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse. A&H "Dialectic of Enlightenment" - extreme rationality has underside of unreason, cult of progress, falsehood of grand narratives.
- Marcuse - one-dimensional society, no need to rebel bc meet material needs and personal security.
- Adorno - new political paradigm needs new art, support avant-garde and experimentation. "Negative Dialectics" - view of using dialectic to resolve conflict and contradiction is misguided, a dialectic reveal "the untruth of identity, the fact that the concept does not exhaust the thing conceived". Undermine the notion of totality and any authority that comes from claiming to grasp the internal workings of this. Everything always in a state of "becoming" instead of "being". Prefigures deconstruction
- Arnold Schoenberg - twelve-tone music.
- Mikhail Bakhtin - plural quality of meaning, language is dialogic - a series of encounters between individuals, meaning always contested and negotiated, multiple interpretations, no fixed meaning. Novels are intertextual - refer to a web of past and present discourses in culture - "heteroglossia" - which works against unifying tendencies in society
- Rabelais - satirical carnivalesque, Bakhtin likes cause mocks authority
- Roman Jakobson - bridge between Russian formalist semiotics and postructuralism - literary aesthetics ("poetics") sub-branch of systematic linguistics - "The object of study in literary science is not literature but literariness". The addressee/reader is the source of aesthetic value. See photo on phone for map of features-functions (context-referential, message-poetic, contact-phatic, code-metalingual, addresser-emotive, addressee-conative). Literary forms tend to gravitate towards metaphor (comparison) or metonymy (substitution of an associative part for a whole). Metaphoric pole = Romantic poetry, lyrical songs, filmic metaphor, Surrealism. Metonymic pole = heroic epids, realist fiction, film montage, journalism.
- Freud - psychoanalysis - unconscious in structural economy of individual's inner life or psyche. Cure for neurotic disorders through self-knowledge. Drives on an instinctual level dictate much of what we do and say at a conscious level - can be frustrated or displaced for a time but eventually a return of the repressed. Sub-text - nothing accidental in a text, text as production, textual unconscious. "The Interpretation of Dreams".
- Ferdinand de Saussere - structuralism - universal structure of language as a constructed system of rules, relation of signifier to signified is arbitrary, meaning comes from agreed convention, meaning comes from incremental unit differences along a chain of signifiers (e.g. one changed letter). Language as a functional system (langue) and not as a collection of individual utterances (parole). Semiology - science of signs. World as series of interlocking sign-systems.
- Jacques Lacan - post-Freudian - unconscious only available as a grammar system, but remains unknowable in itself. Language and meaning predates us as individuals. Self is not essential but the conditions of language. Imaginary realm - pre-self conscious state of infants - and symbolic realm - social language realm after 18mo. Latter is masculine world of order and authority which oppresses women.
- Andre Breton - avant-garde surrealism - challenges symbolic world through focus on dream imagery and unconscious
- Robert Barthes - cultural semiologist - identify grammar underlying any sign-system. Identify the functional syntax by which narrative is constructed. All narratives share common structure and an implicit system of units and rules. Can be grouped e.g. creation myths, which are variation on a central theme. Death of the author - traditional, heroic author passing on wisdom to grateful, passive public. "S/Z" texts are readerly (passive reader, authoritarian) or writerly (active participation of reader).
- Laurence Sterne - "Tristram Shandy" - writerly modernist novel
- Julia Kristeva - poststructuralist - intertextuality, a "mosaic of quotations". Unconscious can disrupt adult signification.
- Umberto Eco - "The Name of the Rose" - "A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs". Systems are nets/labyrinths with no one correct way of going across. Endless semiosis/multiple interpretations.
- Louis Althusser - structural Marxism - ideology requires a strategy of force to hide its contradictions, disseminated by ideological state apparatuses (legal system, educational system, media) and maintained by repressive state apparatuses (police, army)
- Pierre Macherey - structural Marxism - literary texts reveal ideological contradictions - reveal false resolutions to real debates
- Lucien Goldmann - genetic structuralism - homologies/parallels between influential works and social groups that exist at the time, literary texts express group consciousness better than the group itself in tensions of everyday
- Poststructuralism - systems only explain everything through suppression/omission of rogue elements - they are discarded or recoded. This is a form of authoritarianism.
- Jacques Derrida - poststructuralist - deconstruction. Structuralism says meaning present in artefacts waiting to be discovered through analysis, but meaning is more transitory and unstable. Logocentrism = assumption that the full meaning of a word is present in the writer/speaker when they use it (metaphysics of presence). But differance means meaning slips in the act of transmission - traces of other meanings in words other than their primary meaning, a field of meaning that can never be bounded. Therefore totalities can not/should not form. Dismantle system of discourse by pointing to their gaps.
- Michel Foucault - poststructuralist - creation of systems imply marginalisation and exclusion of certain vulnerable social groups in the name of order. Knowledge -> classification, power -> marginalization, order -> systematized control. No human essence or pattern to history. Behaviour, ethics, discourses and societies change.
- Jean-Francois Lyotard - postmodernism - incredulity towards metanarratives. Differend = irresolvable dispute in which neither side can accept the terms of reference of the other side. Not acknowledging differends is authoritarianism. "The Postmodern Condition" championship of little narrative. Narrative is a basic human construction - it does not need any more foundation or justification than that. Only a problem when becomes "grand" and authoritarian/totalitarian. Postmodern science (quantum mechanics, catastrophe theory, chaos theory, complexity) produces the unknown. Science just another set of narratives rather than truth
- John D Barrow - there will always be an unknowable
- Thomas Kuhn - scientific paradigms
- Jurgen Habermas - modernity an unfinished project which should not be abandoned, relies on consensus
- Aristotle - system of ethics that needs no grand narrative
- Paganism - Lyotard - judgment on case-by-case with no overarching system of rules
- Fredric Jameson - postmodernism serves capitalism, symptom of our current cultural impasse, a consequence of another systemic modification of capitalism, still need marxism to defeat it
- Lyotard - existence a series of discrete events with no underlying pattern or purpose. Respond creatively without preconceptions. Future is always open. Technoscience replace human with machine to control the environment - inhuman
- Donna Haraway and Sadie Plant - welcome tech as a way of redrawing the gender map, liberation from biological constraints, becoming cyborgs
- Jean Baudrillard - use seduction on systems to undermine their masculinist assumption of authority - once you lose fear of system they lose any hold they have over you. Now a world of hyperreal simulacra - "signs without referents, empty, senseless, absurd and elliptical signs"
- Charles Jencks - texts work on multiple levels for different audiences. Pastiche - mix and match the familiar e.g. Peter Ackroyd novels. Must do with irony - acknowledge the difference between the contexts of the past and present.
- Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari - "Anti-Oedipus" and "A Thousand Plateaus" - psychoanalysis repressive system which forces people to follow restrictive social norms of behaviour. Schizoanalysis instead - schizophrenic refuses to adopt a consistent social identity so resists oppression. Oedipus shorthand for social and institutional pressures by which conform and repress. We are all desiring machines with our desire repressed by Oedipus. We are driven by libidinal energy so are a threat to social order. Capital is the body without organs of capitalism as it is sterile and unproductive. Rhizomatic structures - non-hierarchical, any connection can be made between any points in the network (Ludwig Wittgenstein also likes). Nomadic thought not tied to any particular system or source of authority.
- Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe - post-Marxism - "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy" - new theoretical synthesis of many of the above. Gramscian hegemony just trying to fix gaps in Marxism, though it had failed. Against unswerving unity of thought and belief in Marxism and pathological dislike of spontaneity and individualism. Working class now so diffuse no coherent identity or revolutionary potential.
- Andre Gorz "Farewell to the Working Class".
- Derrida "Spectres of Marx" - Marx still important lessons, but plural, multiple interpretations, need New International
- Francis Fukuyama "The End of History"
- Slavoj Zizek - individuals are complicit in the operation of ideology. We are aware of the gaps and contradictions but we want it to succeed bc we want to exist under a consistent system of belief so we interpellate ourselves. Must withdraw our support and wait for the system to collapse.
- New Historicism - historical periods are treated as power struggles that leave their imprint on all artistic production of their time. Stephen Greenblatt - "Renaissance Self-Fashioning" and "Shakesparean Negotiations". Juxtapose literary and non-literary texts to expose power struggles.
- Cultural materialism - Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore - culture = analysis of all forms of signification within the actual means and conditions of their production.
- Edward Said - orientalism and post-colonialism - Orient (Middle East) a mysterious "other" onto which the West projected its fantasies and hidden desires, sexual and otherwise. Erotic, exotic and exciting. An area "beyond" where ordinary Western morality and rationality cease to apply. Also infantilise the East in order to justify exerting political control over the East - dominate and restructure it.
- Frantz Fanon - "Black Skin, White Masks" and "Wretched of the Earth" - introjected ideas
- Homi K. Bhabha - hybridity
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak - subaltern studies New Delhi
- Second wave Anglo-American feminism - Elaine Showalter, Kate Millett, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Ellen Moers - gynocritics and gynotexts
- Kate Millett "Sexual Politics" - denounce Freud
- Juliet Mitchell - "Psychoanalysis and Feminism" - return to Freud
- Gilbert and Gubar - madwoman in the attic in Jane Eyre, if women are surplus to male requirements they are hidden away
- Ellen Moer "Literary Women" - female canon
- Helene Cixous - ecriture feminine, writing which allows women to present themselves as they want, rather than as men want them to be (may include Jean Genet). Impossible to define, vague, as it cannot be theorized
- Luce Irigaray - difference feminism - womens identity is diffuse, whereas mens are not. Separatism. Biological essentialism.
- Simone de Beauvoir "The Second Sex" - construction of women in opposition to men, no psychological or biological necessity for "woman".
- Germaine Greer "The Female Eunuch" - women schooled into constructing their bodies as objects of male desire
- Rosalind Coward - critique other feminists, called it womanism - say female perspective is the only correct one, want feminism inclusive of men
- Postfeminism - move away from the culture of victimhood, more positive view of woman as someone who can choose from a variety of lifestyles
- Tania Modleski - accuse postfeminists of negating critiques of feminism and undermining their goals
- Judith Butler - destabilise the entire system of sex regulation, gender as performance, a kind of impersonation. Drag reveals this imitative structure, as well as its contingency
- Henry Louis Gates Jr - "The Signifying Monkey" - black criticism - hidden discourse in black writing e.g. Ralph Ellison
- bell hooks "Ain't I A Woman"
Some thoughts:
- Critical theory - cultural artefacts are tested against the given projection of the world as it is, or should be, constructed
- Criticism is never "value-free" - how we arrive at value judgments, and whether we can make value judgments, just as important as what the value judgment actually is
- Theory is always implicit - assumptions taken for granted rather than self-conscious
- Ideology = assumptions that are taken for granted
- See photos for a map of the origins of critical theory
Theorists, their core ideas and texts:
- liberal humanists - ennobling power of literature
- New Critics - literature has an organic unity
- Alan Sokal - big science. Article in Social Text "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" hoax about extreme relativism. W/ Bricmont "Intellectual Imposters: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science" - pretentious and amateurish misuse of recent physics.
- G. W. F. Hegel - alienation in logic, contradiction latent in all thinking which means one idea will inherently invoke its opposite. Consciousness precedes by synthesising in a continuous spiral upward to self-realization. Dialectical - inadequacy of one form of conscious turns into another, over an over. Consciousness of a subject (thesis) becomes a subject of thought (antithesis) then higher stage of synthesis/self-consciousness. History a journey of the "World Spirit" in progress through stages towards self-realization (Absolute Spirit).
- Marx - texts are the site of both (culture <- idealism ("in your head") <-> alienation (as conscious process)) and (socio-economics <- meterialism ("really existing") <-> alienation (as unconscious, hidden or estranged process)). Alienation is an unconscious estrangement from oneself determined by one's class condition (false consciousness)
- Georgi Plekhanov - Russian aesthetician - crude reflectionism/reflection theory - art shows period's ideological character
- Socialist realism - art no longer elite or experimental - anti-modernism
- Georg Lukacs - first Western Marxist - "History and Class Consciousness" - reject determinism of Marxism, revolution not inevitable. "Theory of the Novel" - link novel to rise of bourgeois culture, individual establishing his or her place in a competitive world. Praised realists like Thomas Mann, critiqued those who say mankind as essentially alienated for metaphysical reasons like Franz Kafka. Thought modernism presented distorted view of reality that inhibited political action.
- Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin - modernist and Marxist - against Lukacs. Epic theatre - political agenda self-consciously brought to attention of audience - does not reproduce conditions but reveal them - didactic - "alienation effect".
- Modernist artists - James Joyce, Samual Beckett and William Faulkner
- Gramsci - hegemony makes ideology unrecognizable as such by making it the "natural" and "normal" way of thinking. Power of knowledge.
- Frankfurt School - Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse. A&H "Dialectic of Enlightenment" - extreme rationality has underside of unreason, cult of progress, falsehood of grand narratives.
- Marcuse - one-dimensional society, no need to rebel bc meet material needs and personal security.
- Adorno - new political paradigm needs new art, support avant-garde and experimentation. "Negative Dialectics" - view of using dialectic to resolve conflict and contradiction is misguided, a dialectic reveal "the untruth of identity, the fact that the concept does not exhaust the thing conceived". Undermine the notion of totality and any authority that comes from claiming to grasp the internal workings of this. Everything always in a state of "becoming" instead of "being". Prefigures deconstruction
- Arnold Schoenberg - twelve-tone music.
- Mikhail Bakhtin - plural quality of meaning, language is dialogic - a series of encounters between individuals, meaning always contested and negotiated, multiple interpretations, no fixed meaning. Novels are intertextual - refer to a web of past and present discourses in culture - "heteroglossia" - which works against unifying tendencies in society
- Rabelais - satirical carnivalesque, Bakhtin likes cause mocks authority
- Roman Jakobson - bridge between Russian formalist semiotics and postructuralism - literary aesthetics ("poetics") sub-branch of systematic linguistics - "The object of study in literary science is not literature but literariness". The addressee/reader is the source of aesthetic value. See photo on phone for map of features-functions (context-referential, message-poetic, contact-phatic, code-metalingual, addresser-emotive, addressee-conative). Literary forms tend to gravitate towards metaphor (comparison) or metonymy (substitution of an associative part for a whole). Metaphoric pole = Romantic poetry, lyrical songs, filmic metaphor, Surrealism. Metonymic pole = heroic epids, realist fiction, film montage, journalism.
- Freud - psychoanalysis - unconscious in structural economy of individual's inner life or psyche. Cure for neurotic disorders through self-knowledge. Drives on an instinctual level dictate much of what we do and say at a conscious level - can be frustrated or displaced for a time but eventually a return of the repressed. Sub-text - nothing accidental in a text, text as production, textual unconscious. "The Interpretation of Dreams".
- Ferdinand de Saussere - structuralism - universal structure of language as a constructed system of rules, relation of signifier to signified is arbitrary, meaning comes from agreed convention, meaning comes from incremental unit differences along a chain of signifiers (e.g. one changed letter). Language as a functional system (langue) and not as a collection of individual utterances (parole). Semiology - science of signs. World as series of interlocking sign-systems.
- Jacques Lacan - post-Freudian - unconscious only available as a grammar system, but remains unknowable in itself. Language and meaning predates us as individuals. Self is not essential but the conditions of language. Imaginary realm - pre-self conscious state of infants - and symbolic realm - social language realm after 18mo. Latter is masculine world of order and authority which oppresses women.
- Andre Breton - avant-garde surrealism - challenges symbolic world through focus on dream imagery and unconscious
- Robert Barthes - cultural semiologist - identify grammar underlying any sign-system. Identify the functional syntax by which narrative is constructed. All narratives share common structure and an implicit system of units and rules. Can be grouped e.g. creation myths, which are variation on a central theme. Death of the author - traditional, heroic author passing on wisdom to grateful, passive public. "S/Z" texts are readerly (passive reader, authoritarian) or writerly (active participation of reader).
- Laurence Sterne - "Tristram Shandy" - writerly modernist novel
- Julia Kristeva - poststructuralist - intertextuality, a "mosaic of quotations". Unconscious can disrupt adult signification.
- Umberto Eco - "The Name of the Rose" - "A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs". Systems are nets/labyrinths with no one correct way of going across. Endless semiosis/multiple interpretations.
- Louis Althusser - structural Marxism - ideology requires a strategy of force to hide its contradictions, disseminated by ideological state apparatuses (legal system, educational system, media) and maintained by repressive state apparatuses (police, army)
- Pierre Macherey - structural Marxism - literary texts reveal ideological contradictions - reveal false resolutions to real debates
- Lucien Goldmann - genetic structuralism - homologies/parallels between influential works and social groups that exist at the time, literary texts express group consciousness better than the group itself in tensions of everyday
- Poststructuralism - systems only explain everything through suppression/omission of rogue elements - they are discarded or recoded. This is a form of authoritarianism.
- Jacques Derrida - poststructuralist - deconstruction. Structuralism says meaning present in artefacts waiting to be discovered through analysis, but meaning is more transitory and unstable. Logocentrism = assumption that the full meaning of a word is present in the writer/speaker when they use it (metaphysics of presence). But differance means meaning slips in the act of transmission - traces of other meanings in words other than their primary meaning, a field of meaning that can never be bounded. Therefore totalities can not/should not form. Dismantle system of discourse by pointing to their gaps.
- Michel Foucault - poststructuralist - creation of systems imply marginalisation and exclusion of certain vulnerable social groups in the name of order. Knowledge -> classification, power -> marginalization, order -> systematized control. No human essence or pattern to history. Behaviour, ethics, discourses and societies change.
- Jean-Francois Lyotard - postmodernism - incredulity towards metanarratives. Differend = irresolvable dispute in which neither side can accept the terms of reference of the other side. Not acknowledging differends is authoritarianism. "The Postmodern Condition" championship of little narrative. Narrative is a basic human construction - it does not need any more foundation or justification than that. Only a problem when becomes "grand" and authoritarian/totalitarian. Postmodern science (quantum mechanics, catastrophe theory, chaos theory, complexity) produces the unknown. Science just another set of narratives rather than truth
- John D Barrow - there will always be an unknowable
- Thomas Kuhn - scientific paradigms
- Jurgen Habermas - modernity an unfinished project which should not be abandoned, relies on consensus
- Aristotle - system of ethics that needs no grand narrative
- Paganism - Lyotard - judgment on case-by-case with no overarching system of rules
- Fredric Jameson - postmodernism serves capitalism, symptom of our current cultural impasse, a consequence of another systemic modification of capitalism, still need marxism to defeat it
- Lyotard - existence a series of discrete events with no underlying pattern or purpose. Respond creatively without preconceptions. Future is always open. Technoscience replace human with machine to control the environment - inhuman
- Donna Haraway and Sadie Plant - welcome tech as a way of redrawing the gender map, liberation from biological constraints, becoming cyborgs
- Jean Baudrillard - use seduction on systems to undermine their masculinist assumption of authority - once you lose fear of system they lose any hold they have over you. Now a world of hyperreal simulacra - "signs without referents, empty, senseless, absurd and elliptical signs"
- Charles Jencks - texts work on multiple levels for different audiences. Pastiche - mix and match the familiar e.g. Peter Ackroyd novels. Must do with irony - acknowledge the difference between the contexts of the past and present.
- Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari - "Anti-Oedipus" and "A Thousand Plateaus" - psychoanalysis repressive system which forces people to follow restrictive social norms of behaviour. Schizoanalysis instead - schizophrenic refuses to adopt a consistent social identity so resists oppression. Oedipus shorthand for social and institutional pressures by which conform and repress. We are all desiring machines with our desire repressed by Oedipus. We are driven by libidinal energy so are a threat to social order. Capital is the body without organs of capitalism as it is sterile and unproductive. Rhizomatic structures - non-hierarchical, any connection can be made between any points in the network (Ludwig Wittgenstein also likes). Nomadic thought not tied to any particular system or source of authority.
- Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe - post-Marxism - "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy" - new theoretical synthesis of many of the above. Gramscian hegemony just trying to fix gaps in Marxism, though it had failed. Against unswerving unity of thought and belief in Marxism and pathological dislike of spontaneity and individualism. Working class now so diffuse no coherent identity or revolutionary potential.
- Andre Gorz "Farewell to the Working Class".
- Derrida "Spectres of Marx" - Marx still important lessons, but plural, multiple interpretations, need New International
- Francis Fukuyama "The End of History"
- Slavoj Zizek - individuals are complicit in the operation of ideology. We are aware of the gaps and contradictions but we want it to succeed bc we want to exist under a consistent system of belief so we interpellate ourselves. Must withdraw our support and wait for the system to collapse.
- New Historicism - historical periods are treated as power struggles that leave their imprint on all artistic production of their time. Stephen Greenblatt - "Renaissance Self-Fashioning" and "Shakesparean Negotiations". Juxtapose literary and non-literary texts to expose power struggles.
- Cultural materialism - Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore - culture = analysis of all forms of signification within the actual means and conditions of their production.
- Edward Said - orientalism and post-colonialism - Orient (Middle East) a mysterious "other" onto which the West projected its fantasies and hidden desires, sexual and otherwise. Erotic, exotic and exciting. An area "beyond" where ordinary Western morality and rationality cease to apply. Also infantilise the East in order to justify exerting political control over the East - dominate and restructure it.
- Frantz Fanon - "Black Skin, White Masks" and "Wretched of the Earth" - introjected ideas
- Homi K. Bhabha - hybridity
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak - subaltern studies New Delhi
- Second wave Anglo-American feminism - Elaine Showalter, Kate Millett, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Ellen Moers - gynocritics and gynotexts
- Kate Millett "Sexual Politics" - denounce Freud
- Juliet Mitchell - "Psychoanalysis and Feminism" - return to Freud
- Gilbert and Gubar - madwoman in the attic in Jane Eyre, if women are surplus to male requirements they are hidden away
- Ellen Moer "Literary Women" - female canon
- Helene Cixous - ecriture feminine, writing which allows women to present themselves as they want, rather than as men want them to be (may include Jean Genet). Impossible to define, vague, as it cannot be theorized
- Luce Irigaray - difference feminism - womens identity is diffuse, whereas mens are not. Separatism. Biological essentialism.
- Simone de Beauvoir "The Second Sex" - construction of women in opposition to men, no psychological or biological necessity for "woman".
- Germaine Greer "The Female Eunuch" - women schooled into constructing their bodies as objects of male desire
- Rosalind Coward - critique other feminists, called it womanism - say female perspective is the only correct one, want feminism inclusive of men
- Postfeminism - move away from the culture of victimhood, more positive view of woman as someone who can choose from a variety of lifestyles
- Tania Modleski - accuse postfeminists of negating critiques of feminism and undermining their goals
- Judith Butler - destabilise the entire system of sex regulation, gender as performance, a kind of impersonation. Drag reveals this imitative structure, as well as its contingency
- Henry Louis Gates Jr - "The Signifying Monkey" - black criticism - hidden discourse in black writing e.g. Ralph Ellison
- bell hooks "Ain't I A Woman"
June 16, 2014
It is always difficult for a novice in a subject to judge whether something is a good introduction to that topic. If one knows little about the subject being discussed, how can one tell if all the relevant points are being covered or whether the information given is correct? Such is my issue with this Graphic Guide. That said, I do have a bit of background knowledge of critical theory and, based on that, this book appears to give a pretty good overview of the topic, quickly covering the major schools, their most influential ideas, and their most prominent thinkers. I finished the book feeling as if I could talk about the main ideas of critical theory intelligently and that I had enough of a grasp of the basics to be able to delve into the topic more deeply. So, overall, this guide is effective.
Introducing Critical Theory keeps readers on track by drawing lines between different schools of thought, frequently referencing what a particular school thinks of previous schools, and whether they are a response or reaction to any particular theorists. Generally, the book relates just about everything back to Marxism, which allows readers to get a basic idea of how critical theory developed chronologically.
The pictures also help hold reader attention. They are mostly for fun or perhaps may function as mnemonic devices. For instance, the page introducing post-structuralism might have some doodles of lamp posts on it. There are also frequent pictures of theorists themselves, occasionally with brief quotes that might further elucidate some of their beliefs. Readers will have to look closely, however, to see the tiny scrawled names identifying each person in the pictures.
On the negative side, Introducing Critical Theory is occasionally too general. It mentions a number of key terms, often bolding or otherwise highlighting them so readers know they are key, without adequately defining them. Sometimes, there is no attempt to define them at all. Readers should keep a search engine at hand, or make notes of words to research later. Also, the book is not always objective and sometimes offers opinions on the theories it is introducing. Now, some schools of thought may be “obviously” absurd, and these notes may actually help readers differentiate between schools that are popularly rejected or accepted by current theorists, but one does not really expect this type of biased commentary from an introductory book. Hopefully, readers who look further into the topic will later be able to draw their own opinions about which schools are valid and invalid.
Introducing Critical Theory nonetheless does a very good job at what it sets out to do. It makes critical theory accessible and mildly entertaining and should serve as a very good basis for those looking to learn more about critical theory. Personally, I plan to get a few more of these guides focused specifically on some of the theorists mentioned.
Introducing Critical Theory keeps readers on track by drawing lines between different schools of thought, frequently referencing what a particular school thinks of previous schools, and whether they are a response or reaction to any particular theorists. Generally, the book relates just about everything back to Marxism, which allows readers to get a basic idea of how critical theory developed chronologically.
The pictures also help hold reader attention. They are mostly for fun or perhaps may function as mnemonic devices. For instance, the page introducing post-structuralism might have some doodles of lamp posts on it. There are also frequent pictures of theorists themselves, occasionally with brief quotes that might further elucidate some of their beliefs. Readers will have to look closely, however, to see the tiny scrawled names identifying each person in the pictures.
On the negative side, Introducing Critical Theory is occasionally too general. It mentions a number of key terms, often bolding or otherwise highlighting them so readers know they are key, without adequately defining them. Sometimes, there is no attempt to define them at all. Readers should keep a search engine at hand, or make notes of words to research later. Also, the book is not always objective and sometimes offers opinions on the theories it is introducing. Now, some schools of thought may be “obviously” absurd, and these notes may actually help readers differentiate between schools that are popularly rejected or accepted by current theorists, but one does not really expect this type of biased commentary from an introductory book. Hopefully, readers who look further into the topic will later be able to draw their own opinions about which schools are valid and invalid.
Introducing Critical Theory nonetheless does a very good job at what it sets out to do. It makes critical theory accessible and mildly entertaining and should serve as a very good basis for those looking to learn more about critical theory. Personally, I plan to get a few more of these guides focused specifically on some of the theorists mentioned.
December 17, 2008
Reading this book is not going to make you an expert on Foucault or Lacan- however, if what you are seeking is an idea as to the spectrum of schools and branches and concerns of "critical theory," or if you're not even terribly sure what "critical theory" IS, then I suggest you pick this book up. When I was just getting started, it really helped me create a "cognitive map" of the field. Basically you get a mapped out schema of the world of critical theory, with a few tantalizing tidbits dropped about some of the thinkers- then it is up to you to go out and get the real books and start reading them. But if you are starting from nothing, and don't even know what you want to read- Donald Rumsfield's "Unknown Unknowns," then start reading this book so you can figure out what your "Known unknowns" are: "I don't know anything about Althusser, but judging on what I read in this book, I now know that I want to study him," etc. I have a few other of the "Introducing" books, and, honestly, the only one I came back to at all frequently was this one. It does not try to "explain" any particular thinker, but to introduce you to a field- I think in this regard I think it is sucessful. It is by no means perfect- for instance, Zizek only gets two teeny little pages- but, again, it is making various "names" available to you, various schools, various strands- Frankfurt school, Deconstruction, Structuralism, Post Marxist, Post Feminist, etc- so that you can go out and get started. I highly recommend this book. I think it is terrific. (Plus the illustrations are great fun!) Critical theory can be a confusing hodge podge of theoretical models- this book will help you on the path.
August 27, 2017
This is an excellent guide to critical theory. The graphics are most helpful. They reflect the mood of the theories that are described. There is a lot to absorb and this is just an introduction, but it is a good one. These guides are useful even if they have an overload of information because they show the relationship between ideas and those who develop them. As with all of these books, there is an excellent bibliography at the end of the book to further study of the ideas that have been presented. There is action and reaction. The visual style reflects the particular topic. We see how all the isms interact and bounce off each other. In a world as complex as the contemporary world, critical theory is necessary to examine the different aspects of the world. Marx is seen as not only have an influence on economics and politics but on a way to look at how culture and society is organized outside of those spheres. The issues of who has the power is significant as well as how new theories can challenge old spheres of power. This was most stimulating and connected nicely with my previous knowledge of the various schools of thought that are postmodern and post structural, providing an historical context for analyzing all aspects of society and cultures.
September 28, 2018
Critical Theory: A Conglomeration
I chose a three star rating for the following reasons. First it is a very short introduction. The index is not as helpful as it could be. The "for further reading" section is not as extensive as most of the other "Introducing" books. It is just not as helpful.
What is helpful is a twenty page glossary. It is an annotated, alphabetical listing of all the component philosophies of Critical Theory. It is amazing as to what Critical Theory is composed of.
I would not recommend this to a new reader of philosophy. Being a conglomeration, it would be best to have read something about the various component philosophies that make up Critical Theory. Otherwise, this is a good introduction.
I chose a three star rating for the following reasons. First it is a very short introduction. The index is not as helpful as it could be. The "for further reading" section is not as extensive as most of the other "Introducing" books. It is just not as helpful.
What is helpful is a twenty page glossary. It is an annotated, alphabetical listing of all the component philosophies of Critical Theory. It is amazing as to what Critical Theory is composed of.
I would not recommend this to a new reader of philosophy. Being a conglomeration, it would be best to have read something about the various component philosophies that make up Critical Theory. Otherwise, this is a good introduction.
March 18, 2016
This tiny rich book is a car or billow book. Although it deals with so complicated ideas, it presents them in daily language and funny way. In other words, you can have an overview of what people say in academia about these figures or theories. It's a nice journey starts from Marx to post-modernism theory even the fall of theory. It's worth reading, sharing and discussing.
June 29, 2020
Really helpful introduction once I'd got my head around the initial ideas. It does feel dated given recent developments in trans-ideology. Still worth reading and really applicable to our current cultural milieu.
September 21, 2012
The best graphic "intro" book I've ever read. A door-opener that's accessible and engaging.
September 11, 2013
کتاب با متنی ساده و همراه با تصاویر جالب تاریخچه ای از نطریه انتقادی از بدو (مارکس و هگل) تا مکتب فرانکفورت و متفکران نوین چون ژیژیاک ارائه می دهد.
این کتاب برای آشنایی با این نظریه بسیار مفید است
این کتاب برای آشنایی با این نظریه بسیار مفید است
May 24, 2024
Stuart Sim’s “Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide” is an engaging and accessible exploration of the dense and often perplexing landscape of critical theory. Sim, collaborates with artist Borin Van Loon to deliver a visually stimulating and intellectually rigorous introduction to critical theory, making it an ideal primer for both newcomers and those looking to refresh their understanding of the subject.
The book’s format is one of its most striking features. As part of the “Introducing” series, it employs a graphic novel style to break down complex ideas into digestible segments, adorned with illustrations that both clarify and enrich the text. Van Loon’s artwork is not merely decorative but integral to the book’s pedagogy. His illustrations serve to elucidate difficult concepts, provide historical context, and add a layer of humor that makes the dense material more approachable.
Sim covers an impressive breadth of material in a relatively short space. The book traces the evolution of critical theory from its roots in the Frankfurt School to contemporary developments, including post-structuralism, postmodernism, feminist theory, and postcolonial theory. This historical approach allows readers to see the development of ideas over time and understand how they respond to and build upon each other.
One of the book’s strengths is its clear and concise explanations of complex theories and philosophers. Sim has a talent for distilling the essence of thinkers like Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida, presenting their ideas in a way that is both accurate and accessible. Each chapter includes summaries of key concepts, biographical notes, and discussions of the broader impact of these ideas on the humanities and social sciences.
However, the book is not without its limitations. The brevity that makes it accessible also means that some theories and thinkers are presented in a somewhat superficial manner. Readers seeking a deep dive into specific areas of critical theory may find themselves wanting more detail than this introductory guide provides. (Which you will undoubtedly find in the dozens of other Introducing… A graphic Guide books. on Amazon) Additionally, while the graphic format is innovative and engaging, it might not appeal to every reader, particularly those who prefer traditional text-based learning.
Sim’s “Introducing Critical Theory” is particularly effective in illustrating the relevance of critical theory to contemporary issues. By linking theoretical concepts to current social, political, and cultural phenomena, the book demonstrates the practical importance of critical theory in understanding and critiquing the world around us. This contextualization helps demystify the subject, showing readers that critical theory is not just an academic exercise but a vital tool for analyzing and challenging power structures in society.
In conclusion, Stuart Sim’s “Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide” is a commendable entry point into the complex field of critical theory. It combines clarity, breadth, and visual appeal to provide a comprehensive overview that is both informative and enjoyable. While it may not satisfy those looking for an in-depth analysis, it serves its purpose as an introduction remarkably well. This book is highly recommended for students, educators, and anyone interested in understanding the foundational ideas that have shaped contemporary critical thought.
The book’s format is one of its most striking features. As part of the “Introducing” series, it employs a graphic novel style to break down complex ideas into digestible segments, adorned with illustrations that both clarify and enrich the text. Van Loon’s artwork is not merely decorative but integral to the book’s pedagogy. His illustrations serve to elucidate difficult concepts, provide historical context, and add a layer of humor that makes the dense material more approachable.
Sim covers an impressive breadth of material in a relatively short space. The book traces the evolution of critical theory from its roots in the Frankfurt School to contemporary developments, including post-structuralism, postmodernism, feminist theory, and postcolonial theory. This historical approach allows readers to see the development of ideas over time and understand how they respond to and build upon each other.
One of the book’s strengths is its clear and concise explanations of complex theories and philosophers. Sim has a talent for distilling the essence of thinkers like Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida, presenting their ideas in a way that is both accurate and accessible. Each chapter includes summaries of key concepts, biographical notes, and discussions of the broader impact of these ideas on the humanities and social sciences.
However, the book is not without its limitations. The brevity that makes it accessible also means that some theories and thinkers are presented in a somewhat superficial manner. Readers seeking a deep dive into specific areas of critical theory may find themselves wanting more detail than this introductory guide provides. (Which you will undoubtedly find in the dozens of other Introducing… A graphic Guide books. on Amazon) Additionally, while the graphic format is innovative and engaging, it might not appeal to every reader, particularly those who prefer traditional text-based learning.
Sim’s “Introducing Critical Theory” is particularly effective in illustrating the relevance of critical theory to contemporary issues. By linking theoretical concepts to current social, political, and cultural phenomena, the book demonstrates the practical importance of critical theory in understanding and critiquing the world around us. This contextualization helps demystify the subject, showing readers that critical theory is not just an academic exercise but a vital tool for analyzing and challenging power structures in society.
In conclusion, Stuart Sim’s “Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide” is a commendable entry point into the complex field of critical theory. It combines clarity, breadth, and visual appeal to provide a comprehensive overview that is both informative and enjoyable. While it may not satisfy those looking for an in-depth analysis, it serves its purpose as an introduction remarkably well. This book is highly recommended for students, educators, and anyone interested in understanding the foundational ideas that have shaped contemporary critical thought.
September 10, 2020
This book was a good introduction to the confused (and confusing) mess of intellectual ramblings crowded under the tent labeled “critical theory.” I can’t say reading it made me any more or less sympathetic to any of the ideologies it summarizes, but it certainly gave me a better understanding of what’s been going on in the world of useless academia for the past hundred years or so.
It would be easy to dismiss critical theory as doomed by its own weight and ambition to be a serious threat to liberal Western culture, but the indoctrination of the unthinking (emotional) masses seems to have been more or less successful, as current events demonstrate.
Despite being similar in structure to Woodfin’s INTRODUCING MARXISM, this book seemed more tedious to read and didn’t flow as easily as Woodfin’s work. This may be due to difference in complexity of the topic.
It would be easy to dismiss critical theory as doomed by its own weight and ambition to be a serious threat to liberal Western culture, but the indoctrination of the unthinking (emotional) masses seems to have been more or less successful, as current events demonstrate.
Despite being similar in structure to Woodfin’s INTRODUCING MARXISM, this book seemed more tedious to read and didn’t flow as easily as Woodfin’s work. This may be due to difference in complexity of the topic.
June 23, 2023
Good stuff, Maynard.
Now that I am old enough, a review of the confusing critical theory of my youth reveals that critical theory was, yes, confusing, but also, in many cases, the points, positions, and postulates are just silly, but seeing that was a blast.
The humor in this book, and in the "Introducing" series is welcome and informative concerning these much too-revered weird ideas. So my summer reading will be amusingly interpolated with various volumes on ideas and people that pique my interests at various levels on various days.
I still get a chuckle whenever I consider and reconsider the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis of Marxism. To which, I hear in my head, in the voice of Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless, "As if."
And what fool, no matter how continental, has the gall to claim--using language!--that language does not communicate. Speaking of self-canceling theories, I am.
Now that I am old enough, a review of the confusing critical theory of my youth reveals that critical theory was, yes, confusing, but also, in many cases, the points, positions, and postulates are just silly, but seeing that was a blast.
The humor in this book, and in the "Introducing" series is welcome and informative concerning these much too-revered weird ideas. So my summer reading will be amusingly interpolated with various volumes on ideas and people that pique my interests at various levels on various days.
I still get a chuckle whenever I consider and reconsider the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis of Marxism. To which, I hear in my head, in the voice of Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless, "As if."
And what fool, no matter how continental, has the gall to claim--using language!--that language does not communicate. Speaking of self-canceling theories, I am.
February 3, 2019
Just insufficient as an introduction. Not organized, new concepts introduced without appropriate contextualization, uneven summarization, etc. I was looking for an introduction that I could use to supplement some reading being done with some teens—it didn't have to be much more in depth than what was (trying to be) presented here, but it needed to be much clearer than what they've done here. Felt like the authors were being driven by the admittedly massive scale of their topic rather than taking the topic and thinking through logical, pedagogically sound ways to present the material and make it useful to their audience.
May 15, 2024
This was brilliant and the graphics of these series, as always, make learning the topics more fun and involved. I would say it’s not as beginner format as it should be, and it may take a slight knowledge of some concepts of Marxism and cultural theory as a baseline to be fully enjoyable.
This book does a great job at tracing the ideas of critical theory to the real political and historical context that they arose from. I recommend it to anyone who is someone who cherishes coming to their own conclusions — resistant to so called “academic shams” and also those who make the charges.
The illustration of Edward Said did him dirty though lol.
This book does a great job at tracing the ideas of critical theory to the real political and historical context that they arose from. I recommend it to anyone who is someone who cherishes coming to their own conclusions — resistant to so called “academic shams” and also those who make the charges.
The illustration of Edward Said did him dirty though lol.
May 21, 2024
The third one of these graphic guides I've read, and the best yet. Critical theory is a huge subject matter to explore and although this offers only the briefest of introductions, it does so in a lively and entertaining way. We go through all of the big hitters, from structuralism and poststructuralism to feminism and post-Marxism and beyond, and it's handled in a way that I found readily understandable. The snippets of humour help too, and the illustrations are as creative as ever. There's nothing not to love here, and I was that enthused that I hope to read more from the bibliography.
September 16, 2017
The main failing of this book is that, while it presents many theories at an introductory level, it does not explicitly define critical theory at any point in the text. Not giving a working definition of the subject is a glaring omission in a book intended for beginners. Perhaps that is some sort of postmodernist nod to the rejection of grand narratives? I dunno, but a reader who has seen the term 'critical theory' bandied about and is seeking clarification should probably pick another book.
March 3, 2019
An interesting and quite funny introduction to the critical theory - it is not very detailed but it briefly describes more improtant ideas from the past century in philosophy, psychoanalysis and literature, giving readers a chance to pick whichever one is interested in and then go and explore the topic further. If someone is already familiar with Critical Theory, it can be a bit boring but it is worth skimming through for the pictures.
May 6, 2019
This is the second "Graphic Guide" I've read, and this series continues to be excellent. While each concept is - necessarily - explained only in brief, these books excel at providing a clear, easily-digestible introduction to their subject matter. Consequently, they function well either as a primary entry-point to, or as a refresher of, the material they consider. I've already bought several more instalments in the series and look forward to reading them over the next few months.
May 20, 2025
as someone who studied international relations and didn’t touch critical theory in their undergrad, and is now in a social sciences based masters drawing heavily on it, i’ve been feeling a bit out of depth and wanted a good introductory overview.
i think the content is five stars but the structure didn’t flow as much as i’d like, and it didn’t feel accessible in the beginning. but i think it’s a helpful place to start and will probably come back to it on occasion.
i think the content is five stars but the structure didn’t flow as much as i’d like, and it didn’t feel accessible in the beginning. but i think it’s a helpful place to start and will probably come back to it on occasion.
October 16, 2025
Whistle stop tour through the history of critical theory. Very useful for someone my age who was educated before it came to such prominence in the culture of contemporary universities. What seems common to all variants is an intent to expose and criticise the cultural and social „forces“ binding modern western societies together. What seems to be left unstated is any aspiration for what society could be.
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