Symptoms of Culture

by Marjorie Garber

The symptoms of culture are the anxieties that underlie modern life: the instability of gender roles, the mysteries of female sexuality, the enigma of authority, the desire for greatness in ourselves and our heroes. From concern over fake orgasms to our worries about Great Books reading lists, from wanting God on our side at sports contests to wanting Shakespeare on our side whenever we want to sound important, we are a walking case of symptoms. Whatever the modern illness may be, the doctor locates the symptoms in a box of Jello or in Charlotte's marvelous web, on the football field or in the bedroom, in our great Mr. Shakespeare, in our classroom or the courtroom, or in a sneeze.

Genres: Essays, Literary Criticism, Nonfiction

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Marjorie B. Garber (born June 11, 1944) is a professor at Harvard University and the author of a wide variety of books, most notably ones about William Shakespeare and aspects of popular culture including sexuality.

She wrote Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, a ground breaking theoretical work on transvestitism's contribution to culture. Other works include Sex and Real Estate:Why We Love Houses, Academic Instincts, Vice Versa: Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life, Shakespeare After All, and Dog Love (which is not primarily about bestiality, except for one chapter titled "Sex and the Single Dog").

Her book Shakespeare After All (Pantheon, 2004) was chosen one of Newsweek's ten best nonfiction books of the year, and was awarded the 2005 Christian Gauss Book Award from Phi Beta Kappa.

She was educated at Swarthmore College (B.A., 1966; L.H.D., 2004) and Yale University (Ph.D., 1969).

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Annie]

Has anyone read or heard of this book? I have read mixed reviews about it and wondered if it was worth the read?

[fivestarbookreview]

Marjorie Garber's Symptoms of Culture is an eclectic collection of essays ranging from prayer in football, to Jell-O, to Roman numerals, to the persecution of Jews in America. In addition, as per her specialty, there are innumerable references to and several essays about Shakespeare. Garber unpacks how he became a secular fetish, the question of the second-best bed, and how his words are used, or more frequently misused, in court cases. Through each essay, she attempts to define the particular symptoms of American culture. Her style is witty and exceptionally clear when covering dense topics, but there is entirely too much Freudian analysis for my taste. Perhaps we can forgive her considering that the volume was published in 1998. At nearly twenty years old, many of her essays now seem outdated, but there's plenty of material that is surprisingly relevant to our current collection of cultural symptoms.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays that vary quite a bit: the concept of greatness, sexuality and religion in sports, the Scopes trial, Shakespeare as an arbiter of truth, and more.

Garber has fascinating range. Many of the essays in this book peel back the covers on American culture somewhat, revealing trends that would otherwise have remained hidden (at least to me). Not all of the material presented comes across clearly, but there is a lot here to learn.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an engaging book, written by talented scholar of Shakespeare, on topics ranging from "greatness," to the intersection of religion and sports, to history and current interpretation of the Roman numeral, to the Scopes trial. Written from a cultural studies perspective, Garber performs prosaic, visual, and historical analysis, relating how artifacts and ideologies from the past continue to be passed on to present-day usage. A most clever exegesis, if a bit disjointed, and a bit peculiar.