Practicing Literary Criticism in an Age of Speed with Jonathan Sachs

Presented jointly by the STELA Salon Series and ECL Critical Speaker Series, “Practicing Literary Criticism in an Age of Speed” with Professor Jonathan Sachs brings readings of Wordsworth to bear on broader issues facing literary scholars today, such as changing one’s mind as a critic and writing in a mode that requires patience (criticism) in a context where speed is a premium (Wordsworth’s print culture, our digital culture). The lecture bears implications for our reading debates—especially on what it means to “close read” and what it might mean to think of close reading as a historicist method (the idea of immanence in a literary work and how to read history without reading event/context).