The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 1984 Page: 7 of 24
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Lentricchia relates criticism, determinism at bookstore talk
by David Friesenhahn
Rice University Professor of
Humanities Frank Lentricchia
briefly discussed his new book
Criticism and Social Change with
an audience of bibliophiles at the
Brazos Bookstore Monday night.
Lentricchia's new work is an
examination of contemporary
literary criticism. It places special
emphasis on criticism's
relationship with the cultural
context in which it operates. He
warned that the book's title may
contain an illusion for the reader,
that criticism necessarily causes
social change. While he stated that
"all critical activities have social
effect," Lentricchia said that the
question of whether criticism
brings about social change is
debatable.
Lentricchia posited that
criticism and culture are
inextricably bound. One must
approach a text with an
understanding of the societal
matrix from which it originated, he
said. To illustrate his point,
Lentricchia explained three terms
which he considers crucial in order
to appreciate his book; politics,
criticism, and literature.
The term "politics," said
Lentricchia, denotes not merely
what is officially going on in some
governmental body. "What 1
mean," he explained, "is what goes
on whenever we express our
opinions." Opinions are political
in the sense that "all opinions are
statements of what we would like
to be as a society," he said.
Those who evaluate expressions
of opinion, mainly journalists,
politicians and academicians, are
engaged in critical activity.
Literary criticism, continued
Lentricchia, is an explication of
texts. "Unfortunately," he said,
"often in the college and university
classroom this is all that goes on."
Lentricchia interpreted criticism
in a somewhat broader sense.
"What 1 mean by criticism," he
continued, "is the interpretation of
society through its social work."
This interpretation includes texts,
work which is a product of its
social matrix, the dominant
organization, and beliefs present in
a society at any given time. The
author of a text, he stated, "may
ONP THE HEDGES
continued from page J
the Southern Baptist Convention
and runs on Sunday mornings
under the title "Powerline."
Schumacher stated that "if it
comes down to funding [$31,000
every year] or the program, the
program will have to go."
Both groups are not pleased
with the bill. Tech High Riders
president Amy Laffoon says,"Our
goal is to promote athletics," and
Schumacher says, "It bugs me
having to plan the station's
program that way." Both were
upset by the fact that they were not
contacted before the bill went
before the senate.
Campanile campaign statements
My name is Pam Truzinski, and
I am running for the position of
Campanile editor for the
remainder of the '83-'84 school
year. During my freshman year, I
started working on photography
for the yearbook. Last year I was a
section editor. This year, up until
this point, I have been overall
assistant editor for the yearbook. I
am the only one who is thoroughly
familiar with the book, its
organization, and the administra-
tive arrangements made thus far.
Since I am already well acquainted
with the present condition of the
book, I would be able to start work
immediately, without losing
valuable time trying to decipher
the past and to determine the
Pam Truzinski
current state of affairs. I would
appreciate your support in the
coming election.
Thank you for your time and
attention.
I am running for Campanile
editor for the 1983-84 book. My
qualifications are strong, and my
energy level is high. I was the editor
for the Will Rice section for the last
book and am involved in the same
capacity this year. I have
experience in all aspects of
yearbook organization including
photography, layout, and the
administrative elements and have
worked with the present
publishing company and editorial
staff.
For this book, it is most
important to be able to work well
under pressure. We are a lot
behind schedule and much needs
to be done immediately. I am a
Kristin Merrigan
driven person and can get it done.
My name is Kristin Merrigan
and I want to be your editor.
Please vote. Thank you.
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Straight up the street in the village
himself be an expression of this
social matrix. Thus," he
concluded, "the activity of the
writer has a sort of fundamental
basis in the way we order our
lives."
Literature, according to
Lentricchia, as it developed at the
end of the 18th century, was seen as
fictive rather than as a mode of
truth-telling. Still, he said,
literature managed to maintain a
critical engagement with society.
This was due to the fact that many
authors perceived themselves in
opposition to the society in which
they lived. However, he
contended, literature in some
respects may have isolated itself
from its roots and severed its
critical ties.
However, though rooted in a
social matrix, literature may not be
a perfect mirror image of society,
Lentricchia reminded his
audience. Because our social
matrix is the product of distant
historical forces which are out of
view and is constantly changing, it
is impossible to represent precisely
one's society with absolute
certainty, he said.
Indeed, Lentricchia pointed out,
literary strategies may be
employed to represent society in a
variety of ways and for various
motives, not all of them noble.
This lack of total certainty, he
asserted, means that criticism itself
"must make itself vulnerable" to
criticism.
Concluding, Lentricchia used an
analogy to illustrate the problems
produced by a text's link to social
context. He likened the critic to a
man entering a room in which a
conversation is already in progress
but in which there is no one
qualified to retrace all of the
conversation's preceeding steps.
"We feel a power from the past
embroiled in the conversation
himself. Yet, according to
Lentricchia, "This is a
conversation without foundation
or substance," and the critic's
participation in it does not bring it
Dr. Frank Lentricchia
exerting a torce upon us;" he said,
"he feels burdened, is not the
master of the conversation."
The critic listens, he said, and
picks up the conversation's tenor.
When he feels he has enough
information, he becomes
-P. Truzinski
to a conclusion.
"History makes us," said
Lentricchia, "yet at any time in the
process, we can be an agent. The
scene of history and the scene of
rhetoric are inseparable,
interminable."
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The Rice Thresher, February 10, 1984, page 7
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Mitchell, Mark M. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 1984, newspaper, February 10, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245551/m1/7/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.