The
Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
Vincent B. Leitch, et al., eds. W. W. Norton
and Company, New York, NY, U.S.A., 2001. 2,662 pp. Trade. ISBN: 0-393-97429-4.
Reviewed by Michael Punt
mpunt@easynet.co.uk
The jacket illustration for this anthology is from a painting by Mark
Tansey of a waterfall which would have done the nineteenth century
Romanticist John Martin proud. It heralds a sublime collection of
extracts from key texts that have shaped the intellectual life of
a generation of academics in the humanities and artists who have not
been content with simply being in the world but who, in various ways,
have striven for some degree of understanding of it. Extending to
over 2500 pages the book presents a daunting prospect for the
reader which evaporates almost immediately. The clarity of the organisation,
and the certainty of the editors purpose leads one almost effortlessly
into the argument. The chronological table of contents begins with
Geogias of Leontini and one hundred and forty eight names later, concludes
with Stuart Moulthrop. Covering around two thousand four hundred years
of intellectual history in more or less the same number of pages is
an indication of the complexity of the vision and the formal elegance
to come. An alternative table of contents reorganises the arbitrary
sequence of history into a thematic matrix in which many authors and
articles make repeat appearances. This restructuring of the history
of ideas mirrors the project of the reader intent on standing outside
the processes of their own construction. Even before the preface,
the promise of Niagara is before us fortissimo at last
to misquote Mahler.
The introduction is lean and makes its argument, as one would expect,
with clarity and precision. Similarly the brief introductions which
precede the selected extracts, are concise, balanced and, above all,
a pleasure to read. They are followed by bibliographies which provide
useful gateways to further enquiry rather than daunting exhibitions
of scholarship. As one would expect there are several indexes and
helpful footnotes which provide clarification and some contextual
information. In short this anthology is not simply a passive reflection
of contemporary theory and criticism, but both an intervention and
an essential tool for anyone seriously interested in working in the
landscape of western academia. Beyond this, its great virtue is that
the selected extracts are not just illustrative of a particular theorists
position but as a consequence of good design, almost every page is
a sheer delight to read quite independently of its academic context.
There are of course some remarkable omissions from the anthology as
well as some rather idiosyncratic inclusions. Almost any reader will
notice them for themselves at once, although whether any two readers
will ever agree what they are is another question. Similarly there
are assertions and assumptions that are sure to be challenged, but
again, this is a matter of the critical use of the anthology by a
heterogeneous community rather than any damaging oversight. The most
problematic (and fascinating) aspect of the book, however, is the
paradox it poses as an entity in the world that can be independent
of its own process of examination. How is it possible to provide a
metaview of theory and criticism which is independent of that theory
and criticism? This is the great paradox of exomatic experience and
one that the editors are aware of since the final contribution is
a Selected Bibliography of Theory and Criticism, divided into six
parts which situates the anthologys own argument in a discursive
context. This is the thesis that seems to structure the argument of
the anthology. It opens with Georgias From Encomium
of Helen beginning: For a city the finest adornment is
a good citizenry, for a body beauty, for a soul wisdom, for an action
arete [virtue], and for speech truth; and the opposite of these
are indecorous, only to conclude with Moulthrops reassertion
of the cul de sac of relativism as he closes the anthology with a
flamboyant question mark over where value is determined. This self-consciousness
points to the sublime lure of this anthology which, in addition to
being a great read and an indispensable tool for teachers, it provides
an archaeology of human thought that reveals a fascinating trace of
the inevitable progress, wrong turnings and recirculations in the
turbulent history of ideas that can be concealed by that dubious device
chronology.