The Politics of Criticism and the Criticism of Politics

As practiced, literary and culture criticism is always in some sense metacritical—that is, finding itself inevitably drawn to discussing its own conditions of possibility. Bruce Robbins's Criticism and Politics: A Polemical Introduction explores these conditions as they have changed since the 1960s, noting in particular the vexed relationship between criticism and politics, itself a much-debated topic within criticism. Robbins surveys the contemporary critical landscape, covering its recent history while also polemically engaging with various critics who wish to “de-politicize” the field. Robbins forcefully argues that criticism and politics are largely inseparable, and with his most recent book, Atrocity: A Literary History, he demonstrates the ways in which such politically engaged criticism operates.