Is Great Art Ahead of Its Time?
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this article, Daniel Ritchie examines the frequent observation that an author "is ahead of his or her time," and criticizes its chronocentric bias: it diminishes our engagement with the past, distorts the past, vitiates education, and treats human beings as mere processes rather than as persons. Through an extended reading of "Sense and Sensibility" and short treatments of Coriolanus, King Lear, and I Henry IV, he models an approach of "receiving" literature by entering into the author's created world.
Department(s)
English and Journalism
Publication Title
National Affairs
Volume
59
Issue
Spring 2024
First Page
157
Last Page
173
Publication Date
Spring 2024
ISSN
2150-6469
Recommended Citation
Ritchie, D. E. (2024). Is Great Art Ahead of its Time. National Affairs. No. 63. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/is-great-art-ahead-of-its-time