Literature and Political Thought: A Symposium
7 July 2022
Hertford College invites you to a symposium on the connections between literature and political thought.
The day will address a number of related themes:
- the civic value and limitations of literature;
- how political practices – from democracy to liberalism – condition or imperil certain forms of art;
- the role of the literary within political argument;
- the extent to which literature functions as a distinctive form of political thought.
Speakers: Amanda Anderson (Brown), David Bromwich (Yale), Richard Bourke (Cambridge); Helen Small (Oxford); Sophie Smith (Oxford); David Womersley (Oxford).
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Schedule
09:15 – Welcome
09:30 – Sophie Smith, ‘The Feigned Commonwealth: Poetry and Political Philosophy in Early Modern England’
10:00 – David Womersley, ‘Political Thought and the Essay: David Hume’
11:00 – Coffee break
11:30 – Richard Bourke, ‘Aesthetics and Politics: Hegel and After’
12:00 – David Bromwich, ‘Character, Ideology and the Ad Hominem Argument’
13:00 – Lunch break
14:30 – Amanda Anderson, ‘The Politics of Literary Studies’
15:00 – Helen Small, ‘Wicked Problems: Political Advocacy for the Humanities’
16:00 – Close of proceedings
All talks will take place in the Principal’s Lodgings at Hertford College, Oxford. Please contact David Dwan for further information: david.dwan@ell.ox.ac.uk