In a somewhat rambling series of essays [What Was Literature?: Class Culture and Mass Society]—partly analytical, partly polemical, and partly autobiographical—Fiedler argues that traditional approaches to and standards of literature have become obsolete. Suggesting that a criticism which ignores or condescends to Uncle Tom's Cabin, Longfellow, Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, soap operas, Roots, et alia can have little to say about American culture. Fiedler tries to sweep the decks clean for a truly relevant approach. He proposes no clear methodology, however, and appears to equate taste with the twitches of the autonomic nervous system, and value with mass popularity. A little weary, sometimes self-contradictory and repetitive, Fiedler's arguments are sporadically lively, always intelligent. They can still provoke and entertain—if only on style alone.
Earl Rovit, "Literature: 'What Was Literature?: Class Culture and Mass Society'," in Library Journal (reprinted from Library Journal, November 1, 1982; published by R. R. Bowker Co. (a Xerox company); copyright © 1982 by Xerox Corporation), Vol. 107, No. 19, November 1, 1982, p. 2097.
This is a free excerpt of 172 words. There are 176 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Fiedler, Leslie A(aron) 1917–: Critical Essay by Earl Rovit Access Pass.
