{"id":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1859"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/montana-tech/oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1859","repository":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","name":"Montana Technology","base_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Richard Rorty and the Cultural Politics of Literary Criticism","abstract":"Simon Stow warns that the influence of political readings of literary texts could be harmful to political discourse. In particular, he cautions against the growing popularity of political “readings” over political “arguments.” Compared with traditional arguments, readings are, Stow argues, poorly suited for liberal political discourse. To demonstrate this point, Stow challenges the political character of Richard Rorty’s reading of Pale Fire. In this essay, I dispute Stow's criticism of Rorty. My basic argument is that literary criticism (or \"readings\") can be politically significant and that Rorty's acknowledgement of this fact ties him to rather than separates him from, both the political and literary arenas. To make my point, I reconsider the reading of Pale Fire Rorty offers relative to the kind of reading of Don Quixote offered by Nabokov. By arguing that even the most \"literary\" of writers reads for political purposes, I hope to situate Rorty within a cultural space where the literary and political converge.","abstract_html":"Simon Stow warns that the influence of political readings of literary texts could be harmful to political discourse. In particular, he cautions against the growing popularity of political “readings” over political “arguments.” Compared with traditional arguments, readings are, Stow argues, poorly suited for liberal political discourse. To demonstrate this point, Stow challenges the political character of Richard Rorty’s reading of Pale Fire. In this essay, I dispute Stow's criticism of Rorty. My basic argument is that literary criticism (or "readings") can be politically significant and that Rorty's acknowledgement of this fact ties him to rather than separates him from, both the political and literary arenas. To make my point, I reconsider the reading of Pale Fire Rorty offers relative to the kind of reading of Don Quixote offered by Nabokov. By arguing that even the most "literary" of writers reads for political purposes, I hope to situate Rorty within a cultural space where the literary and political converge.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Copeland, John"],"institution":"University of Montana","degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:13:58Z","subjects":["literary studies","Nabokov","political studies","reading","Rorty","Stow"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/840","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Copeland, John"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Montana"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["literary studies","Nabokov","political studies","reading","Rorty","Stow"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/840"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Simon Stow warns that the influence of political readings of literary texts could be harmful to political discourse. In particular, he cautions against the growing popularity of political “readings” over political “arguments.” Compared with traditional arguments, readings are, Stow argues, poorly suited for liberal political discourse. To demonstrate this point, Stow challenges the political character of Richard Rorty’s reading of Pale Fire. In this essay, I dispute Stow's criticism of Rorty. My basic argument is that literary criticism (or \"readings\") can be politically significant and that Rorty's acknowledgement of this fact ties him to rather than separates him from, both the political and literary arenas. To make my point, I reconsider the reading of Pale Fire Rorty offers relative to the kind of reading of Don Quixote offered by Nabokov. By arguing that even the most \"literary\" of writers reads for political purposes, I hope to situate Rorty within a cultural space where the literary and political converge."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Richard Rorty and the Cultural Politics of Literary Criticism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Copeland, John"],"dc:description.abstract":["Simon Stow warns that the influence of political readings of literary texts could be harmful to political discourse. In particular, he cautions against the growing popularity of political “readings” over political “arguments.” Compared with traditional arguments, readings are, Stow argues, poorly suited for liberal political discourse. To demonstrate this point, Stow challenges the political character of Richard Rorty’s reading of Pale Fire. In this essay, I dispute Stow's criticism of Rorty. My basic argument is that literary criticism (or \"readings\") can be politically significant and that Rorty's acknowledgement of this fact ties him to rather than separates him from, both the political and literary arenas. To make my point, I reconsider the reading of Pale Fire Rorty offers relative to the kind of reading of Don Quixote offered by Nabokov. By arguing that even the most \"literary\" of writers reads for political purposes, I hope to situate Rorty within a cultural space where the literary and political converge."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/840"],"dc:publisher":["University of Montana"],"dc:subject":["literary studies","Nabokov","political studies","reading","Rorty","Stow"],"dc:title":["Richard Rorty and the Cultural Politics of Literary Criticism"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:13:58Z"}