Gregory S. Jay is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and the author of America the Scrivener: Deconstruction and the Subject of Literary History, also from Cornell.
A major contribution.... Jay's analyses tacitly provide new
alternatives for critical theory. This book is a significant
exploration into our different processes of appropriation,
validation, and transmission of literary and cultural values, into
a field in which pedagogy functions as a primary means of canon
formation and revision.
*The International Fiction Review*
In addition to approaching the debates in multiculturalism from a
theoretical perspective, Jay also addresses pragmatic issues about
how to teach the 'struggle for representation' in the classroom.
Because Jay is concerned with putting his theories about
multiculturalism into action, Culture Wars is ambitious in its
diversified approach. Jay's investigation into the 'culture wars'
is provocative and persuasive—down to his pragmatic and sometimes
radical suggestion for changing our syllabi.... In American
Literature and the Culture Wars, Jay convincingly demonstrates how
the scholarly and cultural debates about multiculturalism should be
addressed in the classroom, where any real change in the curriculum
necessarily begins. By problematizing the positions taken on either
side, Jay offers an even-handed examination of historical and
current debates, offering pragmatic solutions to teaching
multiculturalism, not at the expense of complexity for either
teacher or student. Because of this, American Literature and the
Culture Wars is a valuable tool for understanding and teaching the
myriad voices in American literature and American culture.
*American Studies International*
Jay's thorough review of previous studies establishes a context for
his advocacy of an intellectual diversity in the university and use
of literature (particularly works representing oppressed
minorities) to teach social values.... An essential and useful
challenge to rethink course approaches.
*Choice*
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