Wordsworth, Dialogics and the Practice of Criticism

Wordsworth’s poetry has been a focus for many of the theoretical schools of criticism that comprise modern literary studies. Don Bialostosky here proposes to adjudicate the diverse claims of these numerous schools and to trace their implications for teaching. Bialostosky draws on the work of Bakhtin and his followers to create a ‘dialogic’ critical synthesis of what Wordsworth’s readers - from Coleridge to de Man - have made of his poetry. He reveals Wordsworth’s poetry as itself ‘dialogically’ responding to its various contexts, and opens up fruitful possibilities for criticism and teaching of Wordsworth. This challenging book uses the case of Wordsworth studies to make a far-reaching survey of modern literary theory and its implications for the practice of criticism and teaching today.

Preface; List of abbreviations used in text and notes; 1. Wordsworth, literary history and the constitution of literature; 2. Displacing Coleridge, replacing Wordsworth; 3. Wordsworth’s dialogic art; 4. Dialogics of the lyric: a symposium on ‘Westminster Bridge’ and ‘Beauteous Evening’; 5. Social action in ‘The Solitary Reaper’; 6. What de Man has made of Wordsworth; 7. The revival of rhetoric and the reading of Wordsworth’s Prelude; 8. Theoretical commitments and Wordsworthian pedagogies; 9. Wordsworth, Allan Bloom and liberal education; Index.

From reviews of the hardback: ‘At a moment when academic literary studies are accused of having sunk to a state of savage torpor, Don H. Bialostosky’s Wordsworth, Dialogics, and the Practice of Criticism is welcome evidence to the contrary. Bialostosky proceeds from the enlivening premise that Wordsworth criticism doesn’t end with the texts of Wordsworth, but includes reflection on how Wordsworth and writers generally have been studied and taught in the academy.’ Gerald Graff

From reviews of the hardback: ‘At once responsive to current debates and responsible to Wordsworth, Bialostosky proceeds with lucidity and discrimination to renew resources for criticism. Whether primarily concerned with theory, pedagogy, or the value of liberal education, readers will be valuably engaged by Bialostosky’s dialogic.’ Jonathan Arac