Figures of Dissent: Critical Essays on Fish, Spivak, Zizek and Others

by Terry Eagleton

Playwright, literary theorist, fine analyst of the works of Shakespeare, the Brontes, Swift and Joyce, scourge of postmodernism, autobiographer...Terry Eagleton’s achievements are many and his combative intelligence widely admired and respected. His skill as a reviewer is particularly notable: never content merely to assess the ideas of a writer and the theses of a book, Eagleton, in his inimitable and often wickedly funny style, always paints a vivid theoretical and political fresco as the background to his engagement with the texts.

In this collection of more than a decade of such bracing criticism, Eagleton comes face to face with Stanley Fish, Gayatri Spivak, Slavoj Žižek, Edward Said, and even David Beckham. All are subjected to his pugnacious wit, scathing critical pen, and brilliant literary investigations.

Genres: Philosophy, Theory, Essays

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2003

About the author

Widely regarded as England's most influential living literary critic & theorist, Dr. Terry Eagleton currently serves as Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster and as Visiting Professor at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He was Thomas Warton Prof. of English Literature at the University of Oxford ('92-01) & John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester 'til '08. He returned to the University of Notre Dame in the Autumn '09 semester as Distinguished Visitor in the English Department.

He's written over 40 books, including Literary Theory: An Introduction ('83); The Ideology of the Aesthetic ('90) & The Illusions of Postmodernism ('96).
He delivered Yale's '08 Terry Lectures and gave a Gifford Lecture in 3/10, titled The God Debate.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eagleton's prose pops wit humor and depth, and has a kind of discerning but consistent criticism that can leave one wondering what he actually likes. In our age the answer is Zizek; he is more generous to past figures such as Wilde. Generally, Eagleton's despair with the postmodern left is well placed and having read this book in 2018, a bit quaint. He fears that it is aimless and without a goal, failing to see that its goal was not defeating capital, but in policing language, something Eagleton does not mind so long as the policed ideas are "wrong." Hearing him find some solidarity with Fish is disturbing, even though he points out that Fish's radicalism is palpable, even preferable, to the rich and powerful who lavish him with rewards ad not those who question capitalism root and branch.

The left has found their voice and cause, but it is ready not to battle capitalism but instead sexism and racism, often in a kind of perverse service to capital, which is eager to look progressive while stripping workers of rights and citizens of money. This is something Zizek has observed and likely so does Eagleton. I am open to reading more by this man, by turns profound and witty, and more importantly, a master at uncovering weaknesses. His prose has a drama all its own. His essay on Harold Bloom is a literary review similar to the Bismarck sinking the Hood.

[no · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beatdown on Fish, deceptively even-handed perusal of Spivak, defense of Hall, and autopsy on the de Man affair are among his finest pieces to be included. They cleave like all Eagleton's essays from the essential LRB - the essays here that aren't are quick blasts - to a familiar, occasionally frustrating form: lengthy general exposition on subject matter, specific reckoning with the author and book at hand, and snappy close. This frustrates in the case of his review of Peter Brooks's Body Work: the exposition that reads like an introduction comprises three-quarters of the review. Imagine Hamlet was called Fortinbras. The sooner he mentions the author and his book(s) at hand, the better the review is. For Eagleton, by his own admission, is a critic, not a theorist. If you hate him, you hate him because you expect a theorist or for his dismissal of deconstruction and its discontents. Be prepared to hate more: it's amazing how often there's a backhanded reference to Derrida during his now highly-touted Ethical Turn. It's also amazing how often he bemoans. like, PhDs focusing on vampires. Though he likes po-co a lot more when it regards the Irish. If you want a jumping off point for all that, look elsewhere in Eagleton. These essays' quick, small jabs sadly sound superficial, a sentence or paragraph of "kids these days!" - a damn shame considering his critique, when explicated, is among the best. See the superior After Theory. This compendium isn't converting anyone.

Takeaway:
"Readers who buy it but don't inhale are missing out on most of the fun."

[Marc]

Had to resist the temptation to throw Eagleton sentences onto my Facebook news update space just because they are so consistently pointed and pithy and scrappy, the implication being that, over enough time, enough people reading enough Eagleton sentences will change the world. Thanks to Gary Williams for assigning Literary Theory: An Introduction to his grad students. Been a fan ever since. Whether writing on politics, theory, philosophy, or criticism, and in addition to his own unique formulations and interpretations, Eagleton consistently does a fine job of importing provocative Marxist perspectives from the Continent, crossing the pond, and fitting them to the sensibilities (and pragmatic language) of the Island. Especially good stuff for the newly curious.

[Scott Smithson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For people who read books about books, Terry Eagleton is required reading, love him or hate him.

At times this book is full of lugubrious unintelligible utterances where Eagleton seems to be performing a bit of his overused term 'self-ironing'. Sometimes his points are made with turns of phrase designed to impress rather than inspire.

However, sometimes Eagleton produces memorable quotes. In fact, some of them are so memorable that they should be included in a list by Harold Bloom.

From 'Georg Lukacz' 'We must be moved by visions of a future in which men and women would be made physically sick by the act of dominating others.'

or from 'Utopias 1' 'There are two kinds of starry-eyed idealist: those who believe in a perfect society, and those who hold the future will be pretty much like the present'.

The collection of essays is instructive, at times funny, at times strident, and worth the money I paid for it in the Borders going out of business sale. I don't think many people besides lit geeks like me would find it interesting. But, someday, some English teacher somewhere will assign an Eagleton essay to a doe eyed budding idealist and change his life. Until then, I think I will pull him off my shelf once in a while, if not just to laugh at his opinion of, well, everyone who is not Terry Eagleton.

[Sean Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Terry Eagleton. I haven’t read many of his works (three actually, the brilliant memoir The Gatekeeper, Literary Theory and now Figures of Dissent). Literary Theory was a pretty important book for me. It was the first thing I read that explained a lot of the theoretical concepts that I would be interested in during my twenties. I’ll do a full review of Literary Theory when its time comes, but for now, let’s just say Figure of Dissent is no Literary Theory.


This is a book of Eagleton’s reviews and thought pieces on various literary and cultural figures. It’s kind of fun. His piece on Zizek is great and while it doesn’t explain Zizek’s overarching theory all that well, it does do a good job of explaining a lot of Zizek’s pop culture appeal. Some of the other essays, I barely remember, which shows you the deep impact they had on me.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected reviews from the recently sacked keeper of the marxist flame in english letters. Its been said before about Eagleton's reviews, but it holds true, his reviews (for the LRB, journal for aging socialists, as opposed to the patrician loftiness of the TLS) are potted (& partisan)introductions to complex thinkers such as Adorno, Badiou and Zizek. Welcome to the shadow of the counter-public sphere.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit all over the map, as any good capital-C Critical work out to be. Transporting from Irish poetry to Marxism to David Beckham... Eagleton pops off one hit after another. I didn't mind the sporadic nature of the essays, Eagleton's ideas are coherent and steady enough that no matter where he is the arguments keep their form. Some essays I thought were better than others.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spivak essay alone is worth the $2 for which this is currently being sold by one of those hairy, chess-playing men on Broadway.