The Long Lure of Anti-Instrumentality: Politics, Aesthetics, and Sustainability

While many values circulate in literary studies, there is one that is more durable and pervasive than the others: anti-instrumentality. This essay argues that a relentless focus on anti-instrumentality unnecessarily limits the politics of literary studies and does not always align with the Left. It...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inModern fiction studies Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 225 - 246
Main Author Levine, Caroline
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 01.07.2021
Subjects
Aesthetics
African American literature
Artists
Climate change
Collaboration
Critics
Ecocriticism
Ecofeminism
Ideology
Literary canon
Literary characters
Literary criticism
Literary language
Literary studies
Logic
Narrative techniques
Plot (Narrative)
Politics
Postcolonialism
Rationality
Time
Writers
United States > US
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Summary:While many values circulate in literary studies, there is one that is more durable and pervasive than the others: anti-instrumentality. This essay argues that a relentless focus on anti-instrumentality unnecessarily limits the politics of literary studies and does not always align with the Left. It calls for a new set of values in this moment of onrushing climate catastrophe—the work of building infrastructures for collective life—and makes a case for practical politics. The essay concludes by arguing for the narrative form of the happy ending as an unexpectedly leftist literary form in a time of climate change
ISSN:0026-7724
1080-658X
1080-658X
DOI:10.1353/mfs.2021.0010