Marc Redfield

In Marc Redfield's Theory at Yale we are given an examination of the Yale critics who were lumped together in spite of their differences at a time when theory, namely deconstruction, became popular in the United States.

Redfield treats this loosely grouped collective (Harold Bloom, Paul de Man, Geoffrey Hartman, and J. Hillis Miller, sometimes joined by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida) individually with an eye toward what created the popular impression of an actual cohesion. Depending on your interest there is likely something here for anyone with an interest in 'theory' and particularly with the history and popularization of (de Manian) deconstruction in the United States.

For those who like Bloom his chapter is quite good. My interest was primarily in the chapter on de Man and also the last one on Mark Tansey's paintings. Redfield's text is very readable and his explanations of both theory and its contextualization are accessible to most readers whether they have a 'theory' background or not.

In addition to the types of readers I mentioned above, those with an interest in the academy (particularly the humanities) as an institution or in language and its (un)reliability will also find much of interest.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mais)