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PLAYANDTHE POLITICS OF READING
PLAY AND THE POLITICS OF READING ~ THE SOCIAL USES OF MODERNIST FORM
Paul B. Armstrong
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LON[X)N
Copyright
@
2005 hy Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. NJr information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2005 by C.ornell University Press Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Armstrong, Paul B., 1949Piay and the politics of reading : the social uses of modernist form I Paul B. Armstrong. p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8014-4325-3 (cloth: alk. paper) l. English fiction-20th century-History and criticism. 2. Lit~ erature and society-Great Britain-History-20th century. 3. · Books and reading-Great Britain-History-20th century. 4. Literary form-History-20th century. 5. Modernism (Litera· ture)-Great Britain. I. Title. PR888.M63A89 2005 820. 9'355-dc22 2004018217 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable~based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of non wood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu. Cloth printing
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For Beverly
CONTENTS
Preface
IX
Part One: Theory 1. The Politics of Reading: Nonconsensual Reciprocity and the Negotiation of Differences
2. Play, Power, and Difference: The Social Implications of Iscr's Aesthetic Theory 3. Being "Out of Place": Edward Said and the Contradictions of Cultural Differences Part Two: Criticism 4. Art and the Construction of Community in "The Death of the Lion"
5. Historicizing Conrad: Temporal Form and the Politics of Reading 6. l\'lisogyny and the Ethics of Reading: The Problem of Conrad's Chance 7. Liberalism and the Politics of Form: The Ambiguous Narrative Voice in Howards End 8. Reading India: The Double Turns of Forster's Pragmatism
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9. James Joyce and the Politics of Reading: Power, Belief, and Justice in Ulysses
144
Pedagogical Postscript: Liberal Education, the English Major, and Pluralistic Literacy
177
Works Cited Index
193 203
PREI