An aesthetics of morality
Subtitle: pedagogic voice and moral dialogue in Mann, Camus, Conrad, and Dostoevsky
By: John Krapp.
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Columbia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 220
Subjects: Literature and morals.; European fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; European fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
Description: "In An Aesthetics of Morality, John Krapp reappraises the value of ethical criticism in our time. Allying himself with those who, like Wayne Booth and Martha Nussbaum, believe that there is room for attention to moral considerations in literary criticism, Krapp argues for the possibility of speaking about the ethical dimensions of reading without reducing the discussion to dogmatic declaratives. Focusing on instances of moral pedagogy in novels by Thomas Mann, Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, he suggests that literature uses an aesthetic portrayal of personal relations to introduce scenes of moral tension that illustrate the way ethical claims are made and validated."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-209) and index.
Table of contents: title: Ethical literary criticism today; title: History and pedagogic voice in The magic mountain; title: Time and ethics in The plague; title: Marlow's moral education, from Heart of darkness to Lord Jim; title: Reading The idiot as ethical criticism.