The Logic of Culture - William Ray

This book proposes an analysis of the underlying 'logic' of culture, drawing on a wide range of material not previously examined in works of this kind.

William Ray teaches literature, literary theory, and the Humanities at Reed College. He has previously taught at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and the University of Oregon. His previous books include Literary Meaning (Blackwell Publishers, 1984) and Story and History (Blackwell Publishers, 1990) He is currently working on the evolution of fiction in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a mechanism of social stratification.

"This densely and incisively written book provides a compelling theoretical framework for the understanding of the "logic" of culture in modern times. From the rhetoric of the French Revolution to contemporary museum displays, from Schiller's aesthetics to concepts broached by Matthew Arnold, Foucault and Bourdieu, Ray engages a variety of periods, genres, issues, and regimes of thought with mastery and elegance. A major accomplishment and a fascinating read!" Bernadette Fort, Northwestern University and Editor of Eighteenth-Century Studies

"A tightly argued and coherent account of the conflicting impulses within culture, Ray's study will take its rightful place among the best recent work on the intricacies of culture." John C. O'Neal, Hamilton College