From Publishers Weekly
Inaugurating an annual lecture series at Oxford that will raise funds for Amnesty International, Johnson, professor of English and chair of women's studies at Harvard, invited seven theorists to speak on the theme: "Does the self as construed by the liberal tradition still exist? If not, whose human rights are we defending?" This volume collects their illuminating talks, which will interest intellectuals concerned with human rights issues. French feminist Helene Cixous opens with a personal meditation on the meaning of freedom and selfhood. More linearly organized contributions from Frank Kermode and Wayne Booth draw on their respective specialties of biblical hermeneutics and literary ethics. Controversies over the anti-humanism of deconstruction, referred to in Johnson's engaging introduction, are cogently addressed by the Marxist literary critic Terry Eagleton. Edward Said discusses freedom and interpretation in relation to his studies on colonialism and Palestinian issues. Well-considered, if dense, analyses from Paul Ricoeur and Julia Kristeva round out the book.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
In this first volume of the "Oxford Amnesty Lectures" series, seven leading literary scholars, including Frank Kermode, Edward Said and Julia Kristeva, explore the relationship between political freedom and modern conceptions of the self.
