Literature Matters

by J. Hillis Miller, Monika Reif-Hulser (Contributor)

This new collection of J. Hillis Miller’s essays centres on the question “why and to what end should we read, teach, and spend our time with literary and/or cultural studies?” At a time when electronic media seem to dominate the market completely, and jobs follow the money flows into electronic and technical fields, literary and cultural studies might appear as a decorative addenda but not really necessary for the process of growth and development, neither in business nor in the area of personal development. This question is not really new, it has many facets, requires differentiated answers which depend and mirror the political and cultural climate of a society.

174 pages, Paperback

Published July 27, 2016

About the author

J. Hillis Miller is UCI Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author, most recently, of Black Holes (which was published with J. Hillis Miller; or, Boustrophedonic Reading by Manuel Asensi) (Stanford, 1999)

Reviews

[Agnieszka Pelc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the low rating is also partially my fault (as I've set up some expectations that apparently were never fulfillable), I still can't get over my disappointment with this book. The disappointment that only grew and grew...

I came here for answers. How and why should we read books? What is the true value of literature and, specifically, fiction? What exactly does the habit of reading fiction do to our understanding of the world?

And even though those questions were mentioned and stated numerous times within this book, I, quite frankly, am still left with no hints. Or at leats nothing, that any reasonable, somewhat intelligent person couldn't think of themselves.

Instead, I got a mix of ethymological and linguistic digressions (which, to some extend where quite interesting, but after some time got pretty ridiculous), personal anecdotes - sometimes with no apparent point, and rambling on about how the poor humanities are starving for funds, and Oh My God, the globalization, global warming, Facebook, Twitter, the iPhones...!
Yes, these are some issues that need to be discussed. No, mentioning their existance here and then in the same form and words won't be enough, nor will it bring us anywhere.

Honestly, I unfortuntely feel like I've lost my time - time, that I am never getting back... The amount of highlighted insights I wanted to take from this book fits on one page - one page out of 177 I was determined to get through. Eegh...