In Defense of Reading: Teaching Literature in the Twenty-First Century

by Daniel R. Schwarz

In Defense of Reading What happens when we read imaginative literature? What do we learn from reading such texts? Reading complements our experience, sharpens our perceptions, gives us insight into how other humans live, enables us to understand other cultures and periods, and gives us aesthetic pleasure. In Defense of Teaching Literature in the Twenty-First Century is a passionate and beautifully written defense of the pleasures of reading. With clarity and eloquence, the author, influential literary critic, and award-winning Daniel R. Schwarz shares his insights on why we read, how we read, and what transpires when we undertake what he calls “the odyssey of reading.” Other topics covered include the ethics of reading, humanistic criticism, and the history and future of studying literature. The author explores various forms of resistant readings and discusses changes in reading, writing, and teaching in the electronic age. In Defense of Reading concludes with an optimistic look into the future of literary studies. In Defense of Teaching Literature in the Twenty-First Century embraces the joys of the written word while teaching us to be better readers and imparting wisdom that will resonate with teachers and lovers of literature everywhere.

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2008

About the author

Daniel R. Schwarz is Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English Literature and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1968.

He is the author of the just released Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times, 1999-2009. His books include In Defense of Reading: Teaching Literature in the Twenty-First Century (2008, )Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel, 1890-1930 (2004), Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyon and the Making of New York City Culture (2003), Imagining the Holocaust (1999), Rereading Conrad (2001), Reconfiguring Modernism: Explorations in the Relationship Between Modern Art and Modern Literature (1997), Narrative and Representation in Wallace Stevens (1993)--a Choice selection for best academic book of 1993; The Case for a Humanistic Poetics (1991), The Transformation of the English Novel, 1890-1930 (1989; revised 1995), Reading Joyce's "Ulysses" (2004; orig. ed 1987); The Humanistic Heritage: Critical Theories of the English Novel from James to Hillis Miller (1986); Conrad: The Later Fiction (1982); Conrad: "Almayer's Folly" through "Under Western Eyes" (1980); and Disraeli's Fiction (1979).

He has edited Joyce's The Dead (1994) and Conrad's The Secret Sharer (1997) in the Bedford Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism Series, and co-editor of Narrative and Culture (1994). He has also edited the Penguin Damon Runyon (2008). He is General Editor of the multi-volume critical series Reading the Novel for which he wrote Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel, 1890-1930 (2004) and is now writing Reading the European Novel.

Schwarz also has published about 20 travel articles, about 90 poems, and a little fiction, all of which are available on his web page http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/drs6/. Soon to appear is a festschrift in his honor entitled Reading Texts, Reading Lives: Essays in the Tradition of Humanistic Cultural Criticism in Honor of Daniel R. Schwarz.

Reviews

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan was my undergrad thesis advisor and has become a dear friend over the years. As a teacher myself now, I'm glad to read his manifesto on "the odyssey of reading" and learn from his 40+ years of teaching experience.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspires hope.

The fields of literary theory are such a deep morass of muddled meanings that a student has to wade through, sometimes it feels like slugging through a bog. Schwarz, however, hauls some firm sand out into the quagmire in this book by revealing a practical, realistic view of the interpretation and study of literature.

While many theoriests, I'm coming to discover, spend entire texts espousing their philosophies and how glorious they are, this book is simple, elegant, and nearly tasteful when set next to the gaudy bombastity of Spivak or Derrida. He gives a rather brief introduction of his method of reading, and then shows the reader how he does it-- by doing it. What a novel idea.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should really have been re-titled. It's more a memoir of Schwarz's career as an academic than a rigorous defense of reading (which he does eloquently enough in the first chapter). Apart from this chapter, I found some parts of the book more self-indulgent than others -- particularly his own close readings. However, I was intrigued by the insights into teaching and academia he offered in the book's latter half, particularly the differences he enumerated between his generation of professors and the upcoming one. At times, he was perhaps more conservative than necessary, but many of his points about the direction of literary studies and, especially, academia writ large were smart and nuanced.