1st Edition

William Empson Prophet Against Sacrifice

By Paul H. Fry Copyright 1991
    195 Pages
    by Routledge

    195 Pages
    by Routledge

    William Empson: Prophet Against Sacrifice provides the most coherent account of Empson's diverse career to date. While exploring the richness of Empson's comic genius, Paul H. Fry serves to discredit the appropriation of his name in recent polemic by the conflicting parties of deconstruction and politicized cultural criticism. He argues that Empson is a larger, more important figure than the orthodox in either camp can acknowledge, deserving to be considered alongside such versatile critics as Walter Benjamin, Kenneth Burke and Roland Barthes.

    Preface and acknowledgments1 Introduction: the scapegoat and the word 2 Satanic criticism: Empson and the Romantic tradition logical disorder: Empson on method 4 Toward late Empson: the failure of pastoral 5 Middle Spirits and Empson’s chain of being

    Biography

    Paul H. Fry