Politics and Letters: Interviews with New Left Review

by Raymond Williams, Geoff Dyer (Introduction)

Raymond Williams made a central contribution to the intellectual culture of the Left in the English-speaking world. He was also one of the key figures in the foundation of cultural studies in Britain, which turned critical skills honed on textual analysis to the examination of structures and forms of resistance apparent in everyday life. Politics and Letters is a volume of interviews with Williams, conducted by New Left Review, designed to bring into clear focus the major theoretical and political issues posed by his work. Introduced by writer Geoff Dyer, Politics and Letters ranges across Williams’s biographical development, the evolution of his cultural theory and literary criticism, his work on dramatic forms and his fiction, and an exploration of British and international politics.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theory, Politics, Literary Criticism, Cultural

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist, and critic. He taught for many years and the Professor of Drama at the University of Cambridge. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the cultural materialist approach. Among his many books are Culture and Society, Culture and Materialism, Politics and Letters, Problems in Materialism and Culture, and several novels.

Reviews

[shilpa]

💖💕💘

[Karlo Mikhail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is amazing!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sometimes worry whether reading Raymond Williams is doing me more harm than good; his incredible, careful process of thought is so vital, but infectious and sometimes paralysing. You never get the impression that he is hurtling into an argument, but dutifully measuring and turning it to see it from all sides. I don't know if that prevented him from having the impact as a militant that he deserved, but it has given his writings a timeless urgency.

The same cannot necessarily be said of his interviewers from the NLR. The structure of the book is one of its strengths, as Williams' thought is most clear in the form of a dialogue, but I feel rather sorry for those unfortunate enough to be interviewing him: it's inevitable that their prodding comes across as simplistic, childish, even dogmatic in its insistence on the value of reading Trotsky.

The structure is also interesting, inverting the title so that (after an extended, mainly-literary biography) the book begins with 'letters' and concludes with 'politics'. Whilst this means the earlier part can be more of a chore for someone who - like myself- is not that familiar with serious literature or drama, it is nevertheless extremely interesting and allows the reader to grow accustomed to Williams' distinctive methods of thinking. The urgency of the book is really, though, in the 'politics'; despite the pleading of his interviewers, Williams refuses to bow to dogmatic Trotskyism in either his respect for the real potential of working through social democracy, or his clear admiration for Mao and the Cultural Revolution. The brief outlining of his vision of socialist transition is compelling, and refreshing for its appreciation for locality and complexity. If he concedes a little too much ground in accepting their description of anti-Trotskyism as some sort of old man's condition, he is careful to try and develop a nuanced evaluation of the Soviet experience in spite of their ardent criticisms. Above all, Williams is able to articulate a politics which can recognise the human without descending into a woolly and toothless liberalism, a politics which is consistently revolutionary without being in any sense bloodthirsty, and which can engage with reformist struggles without being co-opted by them.

[Eurethius Péllitièr · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was incredibly interesting my unfamiliarity with the work of Williams didn't help