Is literary criticism compatible with coexistence in modern society? Will postcritique, as described by Rita Felski in The Limits of Critique (University of Chicago Press, 2015), contribute to coexistence? Associate Professor Katsunao Murakami (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo), a specialist in modern Japanese literature, discussed his ideas regarding these questions on June 24, 2022.

Professor Murakami introduced literary criticism and the method of critique. Literary criticism enables a reader to understand stereotypes in society. Critique, he said, has often ignored what a text said and instead emphasized the political aspects of the text.

Felski used the concept of postcritique to rethink critique. According to Professor Murakami, postcritique emphasizes affect between the wide range of actors involved in literature, such as authors, texts, readers, and critics. He also noted that postcritique had an affinity with conservatism and neoliberalism. A gap has seemingly emerged between critique and postcritique in relation to political attitudes toward text, and this gap remains unfilled.

Report by YOKOYAMA Yuta (EAA Research Assistant)