9781844673391-frontcover

The Task of the Critic: Terry Eagleton in Dialogue

by Terry Eagleton

Edited by Matthew Beaumont

The leading literary theorist dissected in interview.
Terry Eagleton occupies a unique position in the English-speaking world today. He is not only a productive literary theorist, but also a novelist and playwright. He remains a committed socialist deeply hostile to the zeitgeist. Over the last forty years his public interventions have enlivened an otherwise bland and conformist culture. His pen, as many colleagues in the academy—including Harold Bloom, Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha—have learned, is merciless and unsparing. As a critic Eagleton has not shied away from confronting the high priests of native conformity as highlighted by his coruscating polemic against Martin Amis on the issue of civil liberties and religion.

This comprehensive volume of interviews covers both his life and the development of his thought and politics. Lively and insightful, they will appeal not only to those with an interest in Eagleton himself, but to all those interested in the evolution of radical politics, modernism, cultural theory, the history of ideas, sociology, semantic inquiry and the state of Marxist theory.

Paperback, 368 pages

ISBN: 9781844673391

December 2009

$29.95 / £17.99

Reviews

  • Second to none among cultural critics writing in the English language today.

    – Guardian

  • A combative, fiercely articulate and witty Marxist literary critic.

    – The Nation

  • Eagleton is informative, witty and wise.

    – Times Higher Education Supplement

Blog

Terry Eagleton in praise of Marx

Terry Eagleton defends Marx's legacy in the Chronicle of Higher Education, answering many of the usual tropes and explaining why the financial crises have prompted a resurgence of interest in the questions raised by Marx's thought: 

The truth is that Marx was no more responsible for the monstrous oppression of the communist world than Jesus was responsible for the Inquisition. For one thing, Marx would have scorned the idea that socialism could take root in desperately impoverished, chronically backward societies like Russia and China. If it did, then the result would simply be what he called "generalized scarcity," by which he means that everyone would now be deprived, not just the poor. It would mean a recycling of "the old filthy business"—or, in less tasteful translation, "the same old crap." Marxism is a theory of how well-heeled capitalist nations might use their immense resources to achieve justice and prosperity for their people. It is not a program by which nations bereft of material resources, a flourishing civic culture, a democratic heritage, a well-evolved technology, enlightened liberal traditions, and a skilled, educated work force might catapult themselves into the modern age ...

There is a sense in which the whole of Marx's writing boils down to several embarrassing questions: Why is it that the capitalist West has accumulated more resources than human history has ever witnessed, yet appears powerless to overcome poverty, starvation, exploitation, and inequality? What are the mechanisms by which affluence for a minority seems to breed hardship and indignity for the many? Why does private wealth seem to go hand in hand with public squalor? Is it, as the good-hearted liberal reformist suggests, that we have simply not got around to mopping up these pockets of human misery, but shall do so in the fullness of time? Or is it more plausible to maintain that there is something in the nature of capitalism itself which generates deprivation and inequality, as surely as Charlie Sheen generates gossip? ...

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By Tamar Shlaim / 14 April 2011 / 1 comment

Terry Eagleton in New York to speak on “The New Atheism and the War on Terror”

This Wednesday November 10, Terry Eagleton will speak on "The New Atheism and the War on Terror" at New York's Heyman Center for the Humanities. What to read ahead of the talk? The Task of the Critic: Terry Eagleton in Dialogue, a comprehensive volume of interviews covering both his life and the development of his thought and politics should certainly be top of the list ...

By Clara Heyworth / 07 November 2010 / post comment

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Other books by Terry Eagleton, and Matthew Beaumont