The Uses and Limits of Criticism

What are the uses of cultural criticism? How does it improve art and artists, and how much does it impede them? How does criticism intersect with political ideology? What's changed in the age of the internet? In our pilot episode, Juliet Jacques discusses the uses, possibilities and limits of arts criticism with Fatema Ahmed, who has held editorial positions at Apollo, Granta and Icon, and contributed to numerous publications, and Daniela Cascella, author of En Abîme (2012) and F.M.R.L. (2015), both published by Zero, and Singed (2017, Equus Press). Works referenced: NAM JUNE PAIK, Suite (212) (1975) - https://www.eai.org/titles/suite-212 NAM JUNK PAIK, 'Media Planning for the Post-Industrial Society' (1974) - http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/source-text/33/ FENNESZ, 'Aus' (from Hotel Paral.lel, 1997) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4WNWhE45gc BRIAN DILLON, Essayism (2017) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/23/essayism-brian-dillon-review-essays-michel-de-montaigne-georges-perec-joan-didion KATE ZAMBRENO, Heroines (2013) - https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/heroines CHRIS KRAUS, collected works and films - https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/arts/design/chris-kraus-films.html OLIVIA LAING, The Lonely City (2016) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/28/the-lonely-city-olivia-laing-edward-hopper-andy-warhol PIER PAOLO PASOLINI, The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) and La Ricotta (short film in Ro.G.Pa.G, 1962) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_od3BxJ2W0 ELENA FERRANTE, La frantumaglia (Fragments) T. S. ELIOT, The Uses of Poetry and the Uses of Criticism - http://tseliot.com/prose/the-use-of-poetry-and-the-use-of-criticism ANATOLI LUNACHARSKY, 'Theses on the Problems of Marxist Criticism' (1928) - https://www.marxists.org/archive/lunachar/1928/criticism.htm HELENE CIXOUS, 'The Laugh of the Medusa' (1975) - https://artandobjecthood.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/cixous_the_laugh_of_the_medusa.pdf Ready Steady Book - http://www.readysteadybook.com This Space - http://this-space.blogspot.co.uk ANN QUIN - https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2007/may/08/whocaresaboutannquin ELIZABETH HARDWICK - Seduction and Betrayal (1973) - http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/05/31/seduction-and-betrayal-i/ ELFRIEDE JELINEK - Nobel Prize acceptance speech (2004) - https://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=721 INGEBORG BACHMANN - 'Literature as Utopia' - http://shirtysleeves.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/a-translation-of-literatur-als-utopie.html GEORGE ELIOT - 'Silly Novels by Silly Lady Novelists' (1856) - https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/silly-novels-by-lady-novelists-essay-by-george-eliot BHANU KAPIL - Ban en Banlieue (2015) - http://www.nightboat.org/title/ban-en-banlieue