Shakespeare As a Way of Life : Skeptical Practice and the Politics of Weakness EPUB, PDF, DOC
9780823269945 English 0823269949 Shakespeare as a Way of Life shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings, Kuzner shows how Hamlet, Lucrece, Othello, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens,impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, Shakespeare's skepticism doesn't have the enabling potential of Keats's heroic "negativity capability," but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negativewhile making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, Shakespeare's works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our abilityto appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. Shakespeare's plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., Shakespeare as a Way of Life-shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings,-Kuzner shows how Hamlet,-Lucrece,-Othello,-The WinterGs Tale,-The Tempest, and-Timon of Athens, impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, ShakespeareGs skepticism doesnGt have the enabling potential of KeatsGs heroic Gnegativity capability,G but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negative while making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, ShakespeareGs works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. ShakespeareGs plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., Shakespeare as a Way of Life-áshows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings,-áKuzner shows how Hamlet,-áLucrece,-áOthello,-áThe WinterGÇÖs Tale,-áThe Tempest, and-áTimon of Athens, impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, ShakespeareGÇÖs skepticism doesnGÇÖt have the enabling potential of KeatsGÇÖs heroic GÇ£negativity capability,GÇ¥ but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negative while making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, ShakespeareGÇÖs works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. ShakespeareGÇÖs plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., This book shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In readings of Hamlet, Lucrece, Othello, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens, I show how his works offer a means for coming to terms with basic uncertainties: about how we can be free, about whether the world is abundant, about whether we have met the demands of love and social life. Though there exist many accounts of Shakespeare's skepticism, none approach it as does this book. Some accounts portray that skepticism as enabling--whether by fostering Keats' heroic, ultimately positive "Negativity Capability" or by serving as a subjective foundation for the tolerant, liberal state--while others portray it as a corrosive disease, in need of cure. While not denying these possibilities, my project presents an alternative, attending to varieties of skepticism that keep negative capability negative but that make skepticism livable--that ask for a lasting disorientation, for practicing the impractical, for a drastic reshaping of the frames by which readers view and negotiate the world. The value that this book finds in reading Shakespeare thus cannot be counted among the values that cognitive scientists and literary critics often attribute to Shakespeare: that his work clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, and of the world; heartens us about human capacity for insight and invention; and sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. This book shows how Shakespeare's plays yield cognitive discomforts, and how it is just these discomforts that make the plays worthwhile.
9780823269945 English 0823269949 Shakespeare as a Way of Life shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings, Kuzner shows how Hamlet, Lucrece, Othello, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens,impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, Shakespeare's skepticism doesn't have the enabling potential of Keats's heroic "negativity capability," but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negativewhile making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, Shakespeare's works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our abilityto appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. Shakespeare's plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., Shakespeare as a Way of Life-shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings,-Kuzner shows how Hamlet,-Lucrece,-Othello,-The WinterGs Tale,-The Tempest, and-Timon of Athens, impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, ShakespeareGs skepticism doesnGt have the enabling potential of KeatsGs heroic Gnegativity capability,G but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negative while making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, ShakespeareGs works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. ShakespeareGs plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., Shakespeare as a Way of Life-áshows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In a series of close readings,-áKuzner shows how Hamlet,-áLucrece,-áOthello,-áThe WinterGÇÖs Tale,-áThe Tempest, and-áTimon of Athens, impel us to grapple with basic uncertainties: how we can be free, whether the world is abundant, whether we have met the demands of love and social life. To Kuzner, ShakespeareGÇÖs skepticism doesnGÇÖt have the enabling potential of KeatsGÇÖs heroic GÇ£negativity capability,GÇ¥ but neither is that skepticism the corrosive disease that necessarily issues in tragedy. While sensitive to both possibilities, Kuzner offers a way to keep negative capability negative while making skepticism livable. Rather than light the way to empowered, liberal subjectivity, ShakespeareGÇÖs works demand lasting disorientation, demand that we practice the impractical so as to reshape the frames by which we view and negotiate the world. The act of reading Shakespeare cannot yield the practical value that cognitive scientists and literary critics attribute to it. His work neither clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, or of the world; nor heartens us about the human capacity for insight and invention; nor sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. ShakespeareGÇÖs plays, rather, yield cognitive discomforts, and it is just these discomforts that make them worthwhile., This book shows how reading Shakespeare helps us to live with epistemological weakness and even to practice this weakness, to make it a way of life. In readings of Hamlet, Lucrece, Othello, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens, I show how his works offer a means for coming to terms with basic uncertainties: about how we can be free, about whether the world is abundant, about whether we have met the demands of love and social life. Though there exist many accounts of Shakespeare's skepticism, none approach it as does this book. Some accounts portray that skepticism as enabling--whether by fostering Keats' heroic, ultimately positive "Negativity Capability" or by serving as a subjective foundation for the tolerant, liberal state--while others portray it as a corrosive disease, in need of cure. While not denying these possibilities, my project presents an alternative, attending to varieties of skepticism that keep negative capability negative but that make skepticism livable--that ask for a lasting disorientation, for practicing the impractical, for a drastic reshaping of the frames by which readers view and negotiate the world. The value that this book finds in reading Shakespeare thus cannot be counted among the values that cognitive scientists and literary critics often attribute to Shakespeare: that his work clarifies our sense of ourselves, of others, and of the world; heartens us about human capacity for insight and invention; and sharpens our ability to appreciate and adjudicate complex problems of ethics and politics. This book shows how Shakespeare's plays yield cognitive discomforts, and how it is just these discomforts that make the plays worthwhile.