The critic is the strategist in the literary struggle…
He who cannot take sides must keep silent.”
—Walter Benjamin
“Never solidarity before criticism…”
—Edward W. Said
This Michigan-based Theories of Critique reading group is inspired by a multiplicity of authors, critics, and schools, produced globally, thus problematizing the Eurocentric boundaries between theories produced by/for Europeans and non-Europeans. This workshop is a “lab” were we experiment with ideas by juxtaposing schools of thought and readings texts contrapuntally aiming at:
- Decentering both the hegemonic status of Euro-American worlds and the privileged role of elite ‘Global South’ writers
- Learning from new venues of criticism and solidarity produced from the local and global margins
- Forging conversations and solidarity among marginalized and segregated theories, individuals, and communities
Our events are coordinated with the HUSSLab at the American University in Cairo as part of the AUC-Michigan partnership initiative, supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.