Rita Felski's guest appearances

Rita Felski

The Hauenstein Center Collection

Public Intellectual

How to Read

Great Writers Inspire at Home

Recall This Book

CSN Café

Gerald Russello

Bruce Robbins

Zadie Smith

Gillian Flynn

Michelle Tea

Pete Buttigieg

David Brooks

James Joyce

Margaret Howie

Ryan Nyburg

Ida Lupino

Talja Blokland

Pamela Bannos

Haley Swanson

Adrian Shirk

OwlTail

Many of the odd social media arguments over the last couple years -- from Scorsese v Marvel to teach Harry Potter instead of Nathaniel Hawthorne -- can be understood as being actually about uncertainty about what art is for. Which is a new development of the age old "what makes art meaningful" conversation. Rita Felski, the author of Hooked: Art and Attachment, speaks to Jessa about some of these recent controversies, why it can be profoundly irritating to be told a film is great, and why we can't solve the problem of art. Support this podcast: http://patreon.com/publicintellectual

Many of the odd social media arguments over the last couple years -- from Scorsese v Marvel to teach Harry Potter instead of Nathaniel Hawthorne -- can be understood as being actually about uncertainty about what art is for. Which is a new development of the age old "what makes art meaningful" conversation. Rita Felski, the author of Hooked: Art and Attachment, speaks to Jessa about some of these recent controversies, why it can be profoundly irritating to be told a film is great, and why we can't solve the problem of art. Support this podcast: <a href="http://patreon.com/publicintellectual" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://patreon.com/publicintellectual</a>

What Is Art Even For, with Rita Felski

Namwali Serpell

John travelled to Odense, Denmark for a conference called “Love Etc.” (RTB is for it…) and fell into this conversation about empathy, identification and “uncritical reading” with the novelist Namwali Serpell and literary theorist Rita Felski. Hannah Arendt’s distrust of too much feeling, not enough thinking loomed large; so did Zadie Smith’s recent article in defense of empathy. The room was unexpectedly resonant–but so were Serpell and Felski’s  insights. Mentioned in the episode: Michael Warner, “Uncritical Reading“ Zadie Smith, “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction“ Namwali Serpell, “The Banality of Empathy“ Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) George Eliot, “Middlemarch” Hannah Arendt, “Truth and Politics“ Cartherine Gallagher, “The Rise of Fictionality“ Noel Carroll, Beyond Aesthetics Brett Easton  Ellis, American Psycho John Bender and Michael Marrinan, Culture of the Diagram Sophocles, The Women of Trachis Bernard Williams, “The Women of Trachis: Fictions, Pessimism, Ethics“ Hans Christian Anderson’s charming, tiny house: Listen to the episode here: Read the transcript here: RTB Episode 18 transcriptDownload Upcoming: in early December, string theorist Albion Lawrence discusses the powers (and pitfalls) of  scientific collaboration with EF and JP. They try to decide if they should be jealous  of the sorts of teamwork and  back-and-forth that nowadays profoundly shape all branches of science. Maybe a case can be made for an elective affinity between solitary cogitation and disciplines like anthropology and literary history. Or maybe JP and EF just need their alone time, curled up in the corner with a favorite blanket…. 

John travelled to Odense, Denmark for a conference called “<a href="https://www.sdu.dk/en/uol/events/conference/love" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Love Etc.</a>” (RTB is for it…) and fell into this conversation about empathy, identification and “uncritical reading” with the novelist <a href="https://www.namwaliserpell.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Namwali Serpell</a> and literary theorist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Felski" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Rita Felski</a>. Hannah Arendt’s distrust of too much feeling, not enough thinking loomed large; so did Zadie Smith’s recent article in defense of empathy. The room was unexpectedly resonant–but so were Serpell and Felski’s insights. Mentioned in the episode: Michael Warner, “<a href="https://www.sss.ias.edu/files/Warner%20Michael-%20Uncritical%20Reading.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Uncritical Reading</a>“ Zadie Smith, “<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/10/24/zadie-smith-in-defense-of-fiction/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction</a>“ Namwali Serpell, “<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/03/02/the-banality-of-empathy/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Banality of Empathy</a>“ Adam Smith, <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/smith-the-theory-of-moral-sentiments-and-on-the-origins-of-languages-stewart-ed" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Theory of Moral Sentiments </a>(1759) George Eliot, “Middlemarch” Hannah Arendt, “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1967/02/25/truth-and-politics" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Truth and Politics</a>“ Cartherine Gallagher, “<a href="https://www.albany.edu/english/files/Gallagher_Fictionality.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Rise of Fictionality</a>“ Noel Carroll, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/beyond-aesthetics/1DBFAA4529EF3E2C1B74A8904DDDB8AB" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Beyond Aesthetics</a> Brett Easton Ellis, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">American Psycho</a> John Bender and Michael Marrinan, <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=3289" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Culture of the Diagram</a> Sophocles, T<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0222" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">he Women of Trachis</a> Bernard Williams, “T<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7t7bt.6" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">he Women of Trachis: Fictions, Pessimism, Ethics</a>“ Hans Christian Anderson’s charming, tiny house: Listen to the episode here: Read the transcript here: <a href="https://recallthisbookorg.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/rtb-episode-18-transcript.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RTB Episode 18 transcript</a><a href="https://recallthisbookorg.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/rtb-episode-18-transcript.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Download</a> Upcoming: in early December, string theorist Albion Lawrence discusses the powers (and pitfalls) of scientific collaboration with EF and JP. They try to decide if they should be jealous of the sorts of teamwork and back-and-forth that nowadays profoundly shape all branches of science. Maybe a case can be made for an elective affinity between solitary cogitation and disciplines like anthropology and literary history. Or maybe JP and EF just need their alone time, curled up in the corner with a favorite blanket….

18 Fictional Empathy. Rita Felski and Namwali Serpell (with JP)

Today we hear from Rita Felski, William R Kenan Jr. Professor of English at the University of Virginia and the 2016 Niels Bohr Professor of English at the University of Southern Denmark. In our conversation, Felski discusses her recent book, The Limits of Critique, in which she examines, and is often critical of, the ways many scholars write about literature.

#27: Rita Felski on Literary Criticism and the Limits of Critique