Pleasure and Change: The Aesthetics of Canon (The ^ABerkeley Tanner Lectures)

The question of the canon has been the subject of debate in academic circles for over fifteen years. Pleasure and Change contains two lectures on this important subject by the distinguished literary critic Sir Frank Kermode. In essays that were originally delivered as Tanner Lectures at Berkeley in November of 2001, Kermode reinterprets the question of canon formation in light of two related and central notions: pleasure and change . He asks how aesthetic pleasure informs what we find valuable, and how this perception changes over time. Kermode also explores the role of chance, observing the connections between canon formation and unintentional and sometimes even random circumstance. Geoffrey Hartmann (Yale University), John Guillory (New York University), and Carey Perloff (director of the American Conservatory Theatre) offer incisive comments on these essays, to which Kermode responds in a lively rejoinder. The volume begins with a helpful introduction by Robert Alter. The result is a stimulating and accessible discussion of a highly significant cultural debate. Contents......Page 6 List of Contributors......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 PLEASURE AND CHANGE......Page 22 Pleasure......Page 24 Change......Page 41 COMMENTS......Page 60 The Passing of the Canon......Page 62 It Must Be Abstract......Page 74 The Artist and the Canon......Page 85 REPLY TO COMMENTATORS......Page 92 On the Comments of the Discussants......Page 94 B......Page 102 D......Page 103 H......Page 104 L......Page 105 O......Page 106 R......Page 107 T......Page 108 Y......Page 109 Contents 6 List of Contributors 8 Introduction 12 PLEASURE AND CHANGE 22 Pleasure 24 Change 41 COMMENTS 60 The Passing of the Canon 62 It Must Be Abstract 74 The Artist and the Canon 85 REPLY TO COMMENTATORS 92 On the Comments of the Discussants 94 Index 102 A 102 B 102 C 103 D 103 E 104 F 104 G 104 H 104 I 105 J 105 K 105 L 105 M 106 N 106 O 106 P 107 Q 107 R 107 S 108 T 108 U 109 V 109 W 109 Y 109 The issue of the canon has been debated in academic circles for many years. This title contains two lectures on this important subject - delivered as the Tanner lectures at Berkeley in November of 2001 - by the literary critic Sir Frank Kermode. It reinterprets the question of canon formation in light of two central notions: pleasure and change. The Question Of Canon Has Been The Subject Of Debate In Academic Circles For Over 15 Years. This Book Contains Two Lectures On This Important Subject By Sir Frank Kermode Who Reinterprets The Question Of Canon Formation In Light Of Two Related And Central Notions: Pleasure And Change The pages that follow are a record of Sir Frank Kermode's Tanner Lectures, presented at the university of California at Berkley in November 2001, and of the lively exchange around them generated by three respondents.