Tag Archives: textual criticism

Below Are The Words Of Mine, Not God

One of the unfortunate but inevitable consequences of being a public intellectual, especially in the context of the Church of God, is that one is the occasional recipient of messages from cranks who conflate their own human reasoning with the … Continue reading

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It’s A Vibe: Part Two

When we previously discussed the limitations of viewing songs as vibes and not paying attention to their mention, the phenomenon was viewed largely as a contemporary one. This is not necessarily the case. Indeed, a great many songs which are … Continue reading

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It’s A Vibe: Part One

One of the notable aspects of contemporary music is that songs are either appreciated for being vibes or being bops. To define these terms briefly (for the sake of those who are not familiar with such language in contemporary musical … Continue reading

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Against Vulgarity, After Lionel Trilling

In his seminal essay on Mansfield Park, literary critic Lionel Trilling said the following: “It is beyond human ingenuity to define what we mean by vulgarity, but in Jane Austen’s novels vulgarity has these elements : smallness of mind, insufficiency … Continue reading

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Willoughby And Ferrars: Two Peas In A Pod

One of the more interesting aspects of the way that Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility has been portrayed is the different feelings and judgments people make towards two of its male characters. When Marianne falls passionately in love with Willoughby, … Continue reading

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On Reading Critical Literature

Today I received three books in the mail that all happened to be Norton Critical Editions of three of Jane Austen’s novels: Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility, and Mansfield Park. I already had, thanks to a couple of online courses at … Continue reading

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Every Critique Is A Revelation

One of the most notable aspects of life is that some of our most revealing efforts are critical ones. When we critique something, we are revealing something about ourselves, and we may not always want to reveal these things about … Continue reading

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On The Responsibility Of Reviewers

What is the responsibility of a reviewer? Those who look through this blog and indeed throughout my larger body of writing as a whole will find that a substantial amount of my writing is related to the review of book, … Continue reading

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Book Review: Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?

Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?: Further Puzzles In Classic Fiction, by John Sutherland This book is by no means flawless, it should be noted. An example of its flaws comes in the titular mystery of the book, where the author engages … Continue reading

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On Lumping And Splitting

When I was a young person and downloading music files from various sites on the interwebs, one of the irritations I had to deal with was the labeling of the music files. As one might imagine, I would look for … Continue reading

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