THE CRISIS OF THE LITERARY:
Culture Studies v.s. The Aesthetic
Hazard Adams
Department of English
University of Washington

Abstract
This lecture deals with one of the major theoretical debates in the contemporary scene, which is designated as an opposition between Culture studies and the Aesthetic.  Treated from a historical perspective, this opposition is shown to be another phase in a cyclical movement in the history of Western literary criticism and theory in which attention to the historical, social, and political aspects of literature trades the place of ascendancy with attention to the aesthetic.  From this point of departure, the lecture provides a historical background for the present turn of the ancient problematic, and carefully examines the arguments from both sides, which include Cultural Materialism and New Historicism on the one hand, and New Criticism on the other hand, as well as deconstruction which is taken by both sides to a certain degree.  It analyzes how the rise of modern universities helps shape the current crisis of the literary, and goes back and forth to illustrate how the opposition between the ethical and the aesthetic in the modern form derives and differs from the old ones.  Moreover, after a careful analysis and evaluation of the merits and demerits of both sides, the lecture proffers a third position called "antithetical," a term adopted from Yeats, to temper the arrogance of commitment on either side.
Keywords: culture studies, the aesthetic, cultural materialism, new criticism, anti-thetical