The Fictive Institution: Counterfactual Spaces And The Practice Of Reading

LITERARY STUDIES / CULTURAL CRITICISM

Catherine Belsey is one of the most significant voices in literary studies and cultural criticism today. The Fictive Institution: Counterfactual Spaces and the Practice of Reading presents a range of essays (published between 1987-2009) that challenge prevailing assumptions about the role of fiction, the work of the critic vis-à-vis existing critical practices, and the relationship between fiction and culture(s) past and present. In the context of English and Literature departments which have, for the past three decades, become committed to the support of good causes, most notably, identities – gendered, national, or postcolonial – Belsey cautions that with the growing politicization of literary studies, teachers and students risk losing sight of the specificity of the discipline. She argues that there always remains the possibility of a sharper textual analysis, and that the more attentive the practice of reading the fuller the engagement with history, cultural studies, ethics, or politics. One should not forget the fictionality of fiction, since it is as fiction that writing possesses its freedom to challenge customary knowledge and defy orthodoxy. Readers will find this book a valuable introduction to Belsey’s critical interventions in the still-evolving field of literary and cultural studies.