![]() | Brave New Words: How Literature Will Save the Planet Subjects: American literature -- History and criticism -- Theory etc.; Social change -- Philosophy; Humanism -- Social aspects; Social problems in literature; Social justice in literature; Humanism in literature; Literature and morals; Literature and society; The activist tradition in American literature has long testified to the power of words to change people and the power of people to change the world, yet in recent years many professional humanists have chosen to distract themselves with a postmodern fundamentalism of indeterminacy and instability rather than engage with social and political issues. Throughout her bold and provocative call to action, Elizabeth Ammons argues that the responsibility now facing humanists is urgent: inside and outside academic settings, they need to revive the liberal arts as a progressive cultural force that offers workable ideas and inspiration in the real-world struggle to achieve social and environmental justice. Elizabeth Ammons is Harriet H. Fay Professor of Literature at Tufts University. She is the author of Conflicting Stories: American Women Writers at the Turn into the Twentieth Century and Edith Wharton's Argument with America and the editor of many volumes, including the Norton Critical Editionsof Uncle Tom's Cabin and The House of Mirth . |
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