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Cultural Politics - Queer Reading
Following a first edition that generated widespread debate, Cultural Politics - Queer Reading is a bold study of the future of critical theory and the role of gender, ethnicity and cultures within academic literary studies.
An illuminating introduction to the second edition revisits the book's agenda for a new form of cultural critique and a truly political lesbian and gay studies. Sinfield renews his call for an 'Englit' that incorporates ongoing study of the cultures of ethnicity, gender and sexuality.
Challenging the assumptions that have shaped the study of English literature, Sinfield engages provocatively with topics such as the gendering of literary culture, the sexual politics of psychoanalysis during the Cold War and the history of cultural materialism. He discusses such key figures as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Walt Whitman, Arthur Miller, Holly Hughes, Audre Lorde and Jeanette Winterson.
This influential investigation of the principles and practice that may form dissident reading, forms compelling argument for intellectual allegiances beyond the academy.
An illuminating introduction to the second edition revisits the book's agenda for a new form of cultural critique and a truly political lesbian and gay studies. Sinfield renews his call for an 'Englit' that incorporates ongoing study of the cultures of ethnicity, gender and sexuality.
Challenging the assumptions that have shaped the study of English literature, Sinfield engages provocatively with topics such as the gendering of literary culture, the sexual politics of psychoanalysis during the Cold War and the history of cultural materialism. He discusses such key figures as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Walt Whitman, Arthur Miller, Holly Hughes, Audre Lorde and Jeanette Winterson.
This influential investigation of the principles and practice that may form dissident reading, forms compelling argument for intellectual allegiances beyond the academy.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 18, 2017
Alan Sinfield, along with Jonathon Dollimore, is a significant figure in queer theory derived analyses of culture becasue, unlike many others in the field whose psychoanalytic influences become overpowering, Sinfield's cultural materialism - an approach derived from work by Raymond Williams - marks his work as grounded in the material conditions of life and of the political struggles produced and prompted by those conditions. This means that he is able to build his models and analyses by drawing on a wide range of case studies and source - from Shakespeare to Madonna via Walt Whitman and Audre Lourde. Sharp and insightful.
January 24, 2019
Read for dissertation.
Sinfield makes an impassioned argument for sexuality to be considered alongside race, gender and class as an important theme when conducting textual analysis. He locates this within cultural studies to hammer through the relevance and importance of queer readings to every day life. One of the only limitations of this text is its focus on gay men, but Sinfield himself is very aware of this fact, and explains the absence of exploration on female sexuality, saying that he would never wish to presume past his own experience, and does not wish to speak over the voices which speak so well on the subject, which I found quite admirable.
Sinfield makes an impassioned argument for sexuality to be considered alongside race, gender and class as an important theme when conducting textual analysis. He locates this within cultural studies to hammer through the relevance and importance of queer readings to every day life. One of the only limitations of this text is its focus on gay men, but Sinfield himself is very aware of this fact, and explains the absence of exploration on female sexuality, saying that he would never wish to presume past his own experience, and does not wish to speak over the voices which speak so well on the subject, which I found quite admirable.
July 6, 2023
Whilst not nearly as radical as it was when first published, this text produces and discusses interpretations of famous texts through LGBT, feminist, and religious perspectives and is undeniably useful as a source.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews