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The Textual Condition
Over the past decade literary critic and editor Jerome McGann has developed a theory of textuality based in writing and production rather than in reading and interpretation. These new essays extend his investigations of the instability of the physical text. McGann shows how every text enters the world under socio-historical conditions that set the stage for a ceaseless process of textual development and mutation. Arguing that textuality is a matter of inscription and articulation, he explores texts as material and social phenomena, as particular kinds of acts. McGann links his study to contextual and institutional studies of literary works as they are generated over time by authors, editors, typographers, book designers, marketing planners, and other publishing agents. This enables him to examine issues of textual stability and instability in the arenas of textual production and reproduction. Drawing on literary examples from the past two centuries--including works by Byron, Blake, Morris, Yeats, Joyce, and especially Pound--McGann applies his theory to key problems facing anyone who studies texts and textuality.
226 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 16, 2017
I think it was William James who said that new theories are first met with repugnance, and then, after some time has elapsed, with the charge of triviality. Certainly, Jerome McGann's theory of textuality has undergone a comparable process of reception. For someone like myself, who has been educated in the shadows of Derrida, Wittgenstein and Quine, McGann's ideas seem pretty uncontroversial. But back in the early 90's, the view advanced within The Textual Condition was met with incredulity and even hostility.
The central thesis of the book is this: texts contain two semantic codes, one linguistic and the other bibliographical. Here, an obvious example—which McGann himself invokes repeatedly—is the "poetry" of William Blake (I use the term in its broadest possible sense). Surely, one can detect a certain difference in meaning between (1) a strictly "linguistic" version of "The Tyger" and (2) one of Blake's own illuminated pages. Naturally, with most other texts the difference will be more subtle. Nevertheless, McGann argues that each and every literary work is fundamentally a cultural object, which means that the myriad aspects of its textuality—from typography to publication history—all possess varying degrees of semantic significance.
The arguments he provides in support of this claim are largely compelling, but they probably don't merit an entire book of their own. Indeed, much of The Textual Condition originally appeared in the form of shorter pieces—lectures and essays—which results in a degree of redundancy across its chapters. Additionally, while McGann's "textual materialism" is a respite from the world of "high theory," his attempts to engage with the more abstruse (and contemporaneously popular) varieties of literary criticism now come across as tedious and dated.
That being said, this book constitutes an immensely important work within the field of textual studies, for McGann was one of the first theorists to point out that yes, the discipline does in fact rely on certain theoretical assumptions. How trivial a claim! And despite its several faults, it remains a groundbreaking and (mostly) eloquent work of criticism. Recommended for only the most die-hard of literary theory fans. Anyone else would likely be bored to tears.
The central thesis of the book is this: texts contain two semantic codes, one linguistic and the other bibliographical. Here, an obvious example—which McGann himself invokes repeatedly—is the "poetry" of William Blake (I use the term in its broadest possible sense). Surely, one can detect a certain difference in meaning between (1) a strictly "linguistic" version of "The Tyger" and (2) one of Blake's own illuminated pages. Naturally, with most other texts the difference will be more subtle. Nevertheless, McGann argues that each and every literary work is fundamentally a cultural object, which means that the myriad aspects of its textuality—from typography to publication history—all possess varying degrees of semantic significance.
The arguments he provides in support of this claim are largely compelling, but they probably don't merit an entire book of their own. Indeed, much of The Textual Condition originally appeared in the form of shorter pieces—lectures and essays—which results in a degree of redundancy across its chapters. Additionally, while McGann's "textual materialism" is a respite from the world of "high theory," his attempts to engage with the more abstruse (and contemporaneously popular) varieties of literary criticism now come across as tedious and dated.
That being said, this book constitutes an immensely important work within the field of textual studies, for McGann was one of the first theorists to point out that yes, the discipline does in fact rely on certain theoretical assumptions. How trivial a claim! And despite its several faults, it remains a groundbreaking and (mostly) eloquent work of criticism. Recommended for only the most die-hard of literary theory fans. Anyone else would likely be bored to tears.
August 13, 2016
Quite possibly the only time I've ever silently screamed "I don't care!" while reading.
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August 8, 20253.5/5
This seminal work starts with a bang. I was writing down so many quotes from the Introduction that my hands began to hurt from typing so much. After the Introduction, The Textual Condition slowly falls into a series of case studies repeating the same findings over and over again. This book would be perfect for someone who is just getting into bibliography and textual studies, but it felt repetitive and surface level to me. Of course, this is a foundational text published in 1991; a lot of textual criticism has developed because of this text. If I had read this before anything else, it would have been monumental, but because I've already read texts that take McGann as a starting point and go further, it was a bit of a let down. The Introduction was absolutely riveting and is the source that many later scholars draw on for their analyses. McGann is digestible and understandable, and puts his ideas to the test even by experimenting with his own understanding of text.
This seminal work starts with a bang. I was writing down so many quotes from the Introduction that my hands began to hurt from typing so much. After the Introduction, The Textual Condition slowly falls into a series of case studies repeating the same findings over and over again. This book would be perfect for someone who is just getting into bibliography and textual studies, but it felt repetitive and surface level to me. Of course, this is a foundational text published in 1991; a lot of textual criticism has developed because of this text. If I had read this before anything else, it would have been monumental, but because I've already read texts that take McGann as a starting point and go further, it was a bit of a let down. The Introduction was absolutely riveting and is the source that many later scholars draw on for their analyses. McGann is digestible and understandable, and puts his ideas to the test even by experimenting with his own understanding of text.
December 21, 2023
Would recommend A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism over this one. This one is much less accessible.
February 22, 2015
This is somewhat dated now, but good for a sense of the field (textual studies) before the web disrupted everything. McGann cares about context.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews