Introduction: In Pursuit of Ethics

Author(s): Lawrence Buell

Source: PMLA, Vol. 114, No. 1, Special Topic: Ethics and Literary Study (Jan., 1999), pp. 7-19
Published by: Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/463423
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Buell
Lawrence

Introduction

In Pursuitof Ethics

LAWRENCEBUELL is JohnP.
MarquandProfessor
ofEnglish
and chairoftheEnglishdepartmenit
at HarvardUniversity.
A
formner
memberof the PMLA
EditorialBoard,he is authorof
New EnglandLiteraryCulture
(CambridgeUP,1986),The Environmental
Imagination
(HarvardUP,1995),andotherbooks
and articles on the literature
and cultureoftheUnitedStates.

THICSHASGAINEDnewresonance
inliterary
studies
during

thepastdozenyears,evenifithas not-at leastyet-become

theparadigm-defining
conceptthattextuality
was forthe1970sandhistoricism
forthe1980s.1
As withanygroundswell,
particularly
whenthecentraltermofreference alreadybelongsto commonusage,thechallengeofpinningdown
whatcountsas ethicsintensifies
as morepartieslayclaimto it.The omnibuscharacter
ofthecall forpapersforthisspecialissueofPMLA,repeatedbelowin part,acknowledges
thede factoheterogeneity:

The ethicsofreading,writing,
criticism,
interpretation,
theorizing,
andteaching.The ethicaldimensions
ofparticular
criticalandtheoretical
orientations
[.. .]. The ethicsofdiscourses,
genres,andcultural
institutions
[... .]. Thepertinenceto literary
studyof [... .] modelsfrommoralandpoliticalphilosophy.
[.. .] The rhetoric
ofethicalwriting.
[...]The ethicalramifications
ofaspects
ofprofessional
culture[. .

The forty-six
submissions
demonstrated
anew,iffurther
demonstration
be needed,thatthereis no unitary
ethicsmovement,
no firmconsensus
amongMLA members
whothinkofthemselves
as pursuing
someform
ofethically
valencedinquiry.
Thispluriform
discourseinterweaves
many
genealogicalstrands,
six of whichI briefly
reviewbeforecommenting
on some of thespecificemphasesin thebodyof scholarshipthathas
arisenfromthem,includingthefivesearchingandincisiveessaysthat
theEditorialBoardhas selectedforpublication
here.
I
The first
andmostlongstanding
ofthosestrandsis thelegacyofcritical
traditions
thathavedwelledon themoralthematics
andunderlying
value
commitments
of literarytextsand theirimpliedauthors.David Parker'sapproachto fiction,
forexample,seemsto a considerable
extenta

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

relativized
ofan Arnoldian-Leavisite
conception
of
updating
subtilized,
as ethicalreflection
literature
(77-78, 120-22, 152). A semianalogous
inUnitedStatesliterary
studieshasbeentheintellectual
history
tradition
topragmatism
to transcendentalism
ofmoralthought
fromPuritanism
"multiculturalized"
as African
American
recently
andbeyond,a heritage
withWilliam
thinkers
have been positionedin relationto it, starting
James'sone-timestudentW. E. B. Du Bois (West 138-50; Patterson
in thepresentsymposiumby
159-97). This tendencyis represented
of howRalphWaldoEmersonmatJamesM. Albrecht'sreassessment
withintradiinfluential
teredto RalphWaldoEllison.Morepervasively
tionalliterary
studiesgenerallyhas beenethicallyorientedtheoryand
focusedon therhetoric
ofgenre,suchas WayneBooth'soeuvre
criticism
as moralimagination
rhetoric
overseveraldecadesonnarrative
extending
(fromRhetoricthroughCompany),whichcontinuesto be a reference
Narrative
Ethics;and
pointformorerecentstudies(e.g.,Phelan;Newton,
fromsympathetic
tohighlycritical).
Yudice-to lista rangeofresponses
particutowardliterature,
The reciprocalturnofcertainphilosophers
is a secondandrelatedstimularlyMarthaNussbaumandRichardRorty,
moralreflections
thattherichly
contextualized
lus.Nussbaum'sargument
to thestudyof
ofHenryJames'snovelsafforda necessarysupplement
she has
moralphilosophy(Love's Knowledge125-219), a perspective
sincebroughtto bearon otherwritersand on thestudyof law (Poetic
to whathe takes
andRorty'scharacterization,
as an alternative
Justice),
tobe thedeadendofepistemology,
ofphilosophy
as "a kindof
initially
of
andpertinently,
(Consequences90-109) and,morerecently
writing"
ofsocialvalas modelembodiments
(certain)worksofcreativewriting
to scholarsin thefield
ues (Contingency
141-88)-these havemattered
ofmethod(see Newofliterature
less becauseofanyradicaloriginality
Ethics61-63 on Nussbaumandsee Parker33-35 on both)
ton,Narrative
thaninsofaras theirexamplehas abettedrevivalof a moralor social
value-oriented
studies.
approachtoliterary
in shapingthespecificagendasofliterary
scholarMoreinstrumental
arisingfromshifts
perturbations
shiphavebeentwootherdevelopments,
of thinking
by and aboutthetwo figuresof greatestimpacton poststructuralist
ofthe1970sand 1980s,JacquesDerridaand
literary
theory
MichelFoucault.
The reevaluation
of theethicsof deconstruction
is themoredramatic
of thesetwodevelopments
insofaras it is connectedwiththe"fall"of
itsprominent
AmericanexemplarPaul de Man, followingtheposthumousrepublication
of his wartimejournalism,whichincludedNaziofproduction
collaborationist
passages.In an essaywhosecircumstance
is itselfan indexoftherecentethicalturn,2
HarphamseriocomiGeoffrey
ofthis"event"that"[o]n or aboutDecember1, 1987,the
callyremarks
natureof literary
theorychanged"("Ethics"389). De Man's Wartime
Journalism
withinandoutside
indeedunleasheda floodofcontroversy
theacademyoverwhether
evasiveoriniquiwas morally
deconstruction

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

tous.Itintensified
criticism
oftheDerridean
of"nothing
postulate
outside
thetext"(ortextuality)
as ethically
myopic,andpossiblyitmayalso have
hadsomething
todo withDerrida'sincreasing
ofsocial,poengagement
litical,andethicalissuesinrecentyears(e.g.,"Force";OtherHeading;
Specters;Gift1-34). Yet deconstruction
and poststructuralism
more
broadlyhad alreadyevinceda distinct
ethicalperspective-evenifnot
typically
calledsuchandeveniftypically
placedintheserviceofnegaus toreflect
onthecostsofmoralabtion-particularly
by"compel[ling]
solutism,theviolencelatentin trying
to construct
fullyrealizedethical
formsof life"(M. Jay46-47). Two specificpreexisting
ethicalcurrents
within
thedeconstructive
movement
thatgathered
momentum
the
during
late1980swerea defenseof"rigorous
incritical
unreliability"
readingas
itselfanethics(Johnson
17-24;Miller,Ethics)andparticularly
a dialogue
overseveraldecadesbetweenDerridaandEmmanuel
Levinasthatended,
on Levinas'sdeath,inDerrida'saffirmation
that"thethought
ofEmmanuel Levinashas awakenedus" toa conception
of "an 'unlimited'
responsibilitythatexceeds and precedesmyfreedom"(Derrida,"Adieu" 3),
afterLevinas(betweenTotality
and Infinity
Than
[1961] andOtherwise
Being[1974])hadcomplicated
hisargument
for"ethicsas first
philosophy"(meaningthepriority
ofethicalobligation
fortheothertoontology,
to beingitself)inresponsetoDerrida'scritiqueof Totality
and Infinity
("Violence").If Levinasshouldbecomethemostcentraltheorist
forthe
postpoststructuralist
ofturn-of-the-century
dispensation
literary-ethical
inquiry,
forwhichthereis mounting
evidence(Critchley;
Nealon;Newton,Narrative
Ethics;Eaglestone;as wellas theessaysherebyDerekAttridgeandDavid P. Haney),a gooddeal ofthecreditmustgo toDerrida
forhavingcalledtheattention
ofliterary
scholarstoLevinas'swork.
Justas theshiftwithindeconstruction,
motivated
bywhatever
combinationofexternalandinternal
has givennewprominence
pressures,
to
thinking
aboutethicalresponsibility
fortheother,so theintensified
attention
recently
givensubjectness
andagencyhas beenemboldened
bya
redirection
of emphasisin thelaterworkof Michel Foucault.In the
courseofhisHistoryofSexuality,
Foucaultshifted
fromhis longstandingconcentration
on thepower-knowledge
problematic
andon theconstruction
of social selvesbydiscursivemacroinstitutions
to thecareof
theselfconceivedas an ethicalproject,a movement
quickenedby the
thatforprivilegedmenof Greekand Romanantiquity
perception
"reflection
on sexualbehavioras a moraldomainwas nota meansofinternalizing,justifying,
or formalizing
generalinterdictions
imposedon
everyone"but"an aestheticsof existence"(Use 252-53), indeedan
"ethicsofpleasure"(Care 239).3Hereagainthetrajectory
is notquite
thereversalit mightseem,sincethespiritof Foucault'sworkwas alwaysone ofironyandattimesNietzschean
outrageagainstinstitutional
constraints
on selfhood,butcertainly
his laterwriting
notonlyunderscoredretrospectively
theseriousnessofhispriorinterest
in thefateof
theselfbutalso markeda newreceptivity
on hispartto theethicalas a

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10

In Pursuit
ofEthics

semiautonomous
arena,"notrelatedto any social-or at leastto any
legal-institutionalsystem,"and to imaginedpowerrelationsas "moandunstable"(Ethics255, 292). Thisself-recalibration
bile,reversible,
anticipates-andprobably
has encouraged-later
writers'
propensity
for
deployinga criticalvocabularyof "ethics"in rivalryto "politics"as a
wayoftheorizing
socialengagement.
principled
Another
symptomatic
ethicalturnevincedbylateFoucaultwas hisincipientcritiqueof hisearlierevaluationof "theidea oftruth
as nothing
morethana rusein theserviceofan epistemicwill-to-power,"
as a mere
discursive
artifact
(Norris124,126).Thisstrainofrecenttheory
concerns
itselfwithexposingtheintellectual
reductionisms
andmoralhazardsof
the"out-and-out
cognitiveskepticism"thatsupposedlycharacterized
poststructuralism
(Norris3), whileavoidingold-fashioned
modelsof
realism.SatyaMohanty,
mimetic
inanindependent
critique,
passionately
decriesthetendency
of "postmodernist
"todenyexperience
skepticism"
in narratives
anycognitivevalue,"arguingthatparticularly
byauthors
fromoppressedpeoples"we needtoexplorethepossibility
ofa theoretical understanding
ofsocialandcultural
in termsofobjectivesoidentity
cial location"(234,216).The strongest
forthoseseekingtowork
impetus
theissueofwhether
through
discoursecan yieldtruthful
orreliablerepresentation,
however,
has beenDerrideanratherthanFoucauldian(see
Mohanty'sformulation
ofa "post-positivist"
realism[176-216]);andso
farthemostcharacteristic
positionhasbeentheargument-advanced
esofpostcolonial
peciallybystudents
and"minority"
discourse-thattruth,
orhistorical
authenticity,
is concealedwithin,
facticity
by,orbehinddiscoursesresistant,
opaque, or elliptical(Chow 39-41). This seemsthe
ofGayatriSpivak'sparadoxicalassertion
purport
that"ethicsis theexperienceoftheimpossible":an ethicalrepresentation
ofsubalternity
must
proceedin theawarenessthat(mutual)understanding
willbe limited.
"No amountofraisedfield-work
caneverapproachthepainstaking
labor
to establishethicalsingularity
withthesubaltern"
(Prefacexxv,xxiv)butproceeditmust.A correlative
insightis DorisSommer'sconception.
of an ethicsof withholding
by whichresistant
minority
writerscreate
strategic
opacitiesandmisrecognitions
formainstream
readers("Resisting"and"TextualConquests"):a "poeticsofdefense,"
as GeorgeYuidice
calls itin his discussionof one of Sommer'sprooftexts,I, Rigoberta
Menchu'
(229).
A sixthstrandofinfluence
is increasedself-consciousness
aboutprofessionalethics,whichhas stimulated
discussionthroughout
theuniversityaboutstandardsof conduct.In law, worksof literature
have for
sometimebeenoffered
pedagogicallyas morefull-blooded
instantiations of legal thinkingand conductthanstandardintradisciplinary
sourcesafford
(e.g.,Weisberg;
Nussbaum,PoeticJustice;
cf.thecritique
byPosner305-32)-a tendency,
in otherprofessional
mirrored
fields,
thathas helpedpreparethewayfor,evenifithas notdirectly
influenced,
Wai Chee Dimock'sbold andimportant
argument
thatliterature's
"tex-

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

11

tualizationofjustice" constitutes
a deeperethicalreflection
thanthe
"reification
ofcommensurability"
to whichthelegaldiscourseofjustice
is committed
(10, 6). At an instrumental,
administrative
level,literature
programs
andassociationshavemovedtowardtheirownreifications
of
disciplinary-ethical
concernsin theformof codes of ethicalconduct
(e.g., Mod. Lang. Assn.ofAmer.).Finallyand mostprominently,
concernsabouttheethicsofcriticaltheoryandpracticehavebeenbrought
togetherwithconcernsabouttheethicsof professionalconduct-althoughbyno meansalwaysunderthesignofethicsperse-in studies
oftheconceptual,
andpedagogicaldimensions
historical,
ofcanonformationandchange(Smith;Lauter;Guillory;G. Jay).4
II
The foregoing
reviewis, ofcourse,an incomplete
sketch.5
Butitshould
suffice
to showthatas ethicshas becomea moreprivilegedsignifier
it
has also becomean increasingly
ductileandthereby
confuspotentially
ingone.Ethicsas thematics
ofmoralrepresentation
does not
manifestly
equal ethicsas self-care,
nordoes eitherhavetheprocedural
castofprofessionalethics("The appropriate
faculty
members
shouldinform
candidatesforpromotion
ortenureoftheirrights[. . .]" [Mod.Lang.Assn.of
Amer.76]). In part,thisdisparity
offocusmayreflect
therelativelackof
thatethicallyvalencedliterary
grounding
inquiryhas in ethicsas a subdisciplineandtradition
within
No majorethicalphilosopher
philosophy.
fromAristotle
to JohnRawls has attracted
anywhere
neartheattention
amongthosecurrently
linkingliterature
andethicsthatDerridaandFoucaulthaveattracted
ofthemethicists
(neither
inanystrict
sense),withthe
exceptionofLevinas,who mightrather
be calleda metaethical
thinker
thanan ethicist
proper.In anyevent,sinceno specificmodelforinquiry
intoethicsis sharedbymorethana fraction
ofthescholarsworkingin
thevariousdomainsofliterary
theory
andcriticism,
itis morethanordinarilyperplexing
when,as oftenhappens,avowedpractitioners
of"ethical" criticism
neglectto relatetheirbrandofethicsto itsalternatives
or
to antecedent
traditions
of moralthematics,
theideologyof genre,the
deconstructive
ethicsofreading,
thepoliticsofcanonicity,
andso forth.
To date,nobodyseemstohaveworried
muchabouta problem
ofcacophony,
however.
Perhapsrightly
so. Perhapsa certaindesultoriness
is to
be expectedofan emerging
discourse,orcongeriesofdiscourses,
strugglingwithself-definition.
A matter
ofmoreopendisputeis whether
the
ethicalturn,
totheextentthatitoffers
something
substantively
new,is an
advanceora retrogression.
Theswift
riseofethicsas a moreadmired
pursuitthanithadbeenforseveraldecadescan be andhas beenconceived
bothhonorifically
(e.g., as a reactivation
of scholarlyandpedagogical
as a revivalofa oncedistinguished
conscience,
humanistic
sensibility
unfairlystigmatized
inrecentyears,as a substantial
retheorization
ofalterity)and pejoratively(e.g., as a copycatmoralmajoritarianism
or as a

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12

In Pursuit
ofEthics

to privatism,
as with
retreatfroma politicsof social transformation
as "ludicmystification"
TeresaL. Ebert'sdismissalof "ethicalfeminism"
in a de factoindulgenceofitsown
thatonlypretendsto honoralterity
classprivilege[301,230]).6
Regardlessof whetherone is inclinedto be hopefulor suspicious
aboutthepromiseofethicallyvalencedliterary
itsburgeoning
inquiry,
behooveone to takestockofitsdistinctive
anditsincreasingcurrency
contours.
Fiveseemsalient.
For one thing,thenewethicalinquirytendsto favorrecuperation
of
oftexts,without
authorial
agencyin theproduction
ceasingto acknowledgethattextsarealso in somesensesociallyconstructed:
to arguelike
Attridgein thisissue, if notso pointedly,
fortheimportanceof "authoredness"to thetheoryof writingand accordingly,
"pace Roland
Barthes,"
forthinking
"work"overthinking
"text."In severaloftheother
butalso thefigureofthehistorical
author
essays,notonlyauthoredness
is directly
Thisis especiallytrueforAlbrecht,
relevant.
understandably
so giventheempiricalcast ofhis literary-historical
contention.
More
ofdirectional
momentum
aretheessaysbyBradley
tellingas indicators
and MaryBethTierney-Tello,
bothof whomseek to diagButterfield
nosetheethicalvalenceofpostmodemism.
In Butterfield's
adjudication
ofBaudrillard
vis-a-visBallard,thecase for"a critiqueoflatecapitalist
formsofmorality
in favorofa deepersenseofpersonalliberty
andjusticethrough
aesthetic
revolution"
restsin no smallmeasureon theestablishment
of a distinction,
especiallyin Baudrillard's
work,betweenthe
deceptiveappearanceofthe"immoral"textandtheinferred
positionof
thewriter.In Tierney-Tello's
pursuitof thesame generalquestionof
whether
a progressive
discourseis possible,the
politicsofpostmodern
evidenceofDiamelaEltit'swriting
itselfstandstoa greater
extentas the
chiefexhibit,butTierney-Tello
adducesthehistorical
author'smotives
andethnographic
as important
scrupulousness
evidence.
contributory
More centralto ethicallyvalencedtheoryand criticism
overallthan
theissueofauthorial
agency,however,
is thatofreaderly
responsibility,
whichindeedis oftenlinked,as byAttridge,
torecuperation
ofauthoredness. Key to manysuchaccountsof readingethicsis a conceptionof
literature
as thereader'sother,
a viewofthereadingrelationsharply
different
fromthatoftraditional
reader-response
criticism,
whichtendedto
celebrate(as did Barthes)readerlyappropriation
or reinvention.
The
newerethicalcriticism
generally
envisagesreinvention
notas freeplay
oran assertion
ofpowerbutas arisingoutofconscienceful
listening.
Attridgeproposesthemodelof "theworkas stranger,
even[. . . whenthe
readerknowsit intimately":
a stranger
to whomone owes respect.In
thisLevinasianview,theworkis an otherin theformofa creative
actfor
whichreadersare called to takeresponsibility,
to allow themselvesto
becomeengagedevento thepointof beingin a senseremade.TierneyTello offersa similarargument
froma different
criticalmodel,derived
fromminority
and postcolonialresistancetheory,
aboutEltit'savant-

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

13

gardistversionsoftestimonio:
call for
theymakean "ethically
grounded
to thereaderpartlybytheirveryresistanceto standardgesolidarity"
nericexpectationsthatrequirethereaderto hearsubalternvoices and
see subaltern
facesbutnotfullyto grasp,process,orunderstand
them.7
Indeed,oneofthemostprovocative
dimensions
ofAttridge's
theoretical essayandTierney-Tello's
exegesisis theirreadinesstopushas faras
withtext(work)as encounter
theydo theimageofengagement
withvirtualperson.The hesitancywithwhichBoothproceededa decade ago
whenreviving
thelong-dormant
Victorian
ofthebookas friend
metaphor
(Company168-96),anotherversionofthegeneralnotionofreadingas
an interpersonal
act,nowseemsless necessary.
Haneymakesno bones
aboutclaiming"genuineethicalsignificance"
formetaphors
like"friend"
used to characterizeliterary
worksand aboutpressingtheinference,
drawnfromHans-GeorgGadamer's"On theContribution
of Poetryto
theSearchforTruth,"
that"theprocessbywhichthetruth
ofa poemis
revealedis instructively
similarto theunconcealing
thatgoes on in the
ethicalhermeneutics
ofbeingopento [....] thetruth
ofanother
person."
The imageoftextualencounter
as personalencounter
is notwithout
itsperils,threeofthembeingthetemptation
to reifythemetaphor,
the
implication
thatreaderresistance
is unethical
(a symptom
ofobtuseness,
of insensitivity,
of ethicalunderdevelopment),
and an astringency
towardaestheticsas suchlikethatdisplayedbyLevinas-the mostinfluentialrecenttheorist
of self-other
relations.8
Yet themodelofreading
as a sceneofvirtualinterpersonality
experience
thatenacts,activates,
or
otherwise
illuminates
ethicalresponsibility
maynonetheless
proveone
of themostsignificant
of theliterature-and-ethics
innovations
movement.If so, twoimportant
reasonswillprobably
be theantiauthoritarian
valorization
of alterity
intothisbodyofreflection
flowing
fromLevinas
andfrompostcolonialcriticism
andthemodel'sinsistence,
as Attridge
putsit,on theself-other
dynamicas "an activeoreventlike
relation."
A third
important
dimension
ofthenewerliterary-ethical
inquiry,
more
familiar
butno less important,
is interest
in descrying
an ethosorincipientethicalteleologyimplicitin specificdiscoursemodes(Butterfield),
genretemplates(Tierney-Tello),
or formalstructures
at thelevelof the
individualartifact
(Tierney-Tello,
Haney).Haneytheorizestheunderlyingidea mostfullyin hisredescription
of selectedRomanticpoeticand
criticalprojectsas expressing
a bipolarity
betweenAristotelian
phronesis (practicalwisdom)andtechne,a bipolarity
thathe correlates
withthe
imagination-versus-fancy
distinction,
arguingthatnewhistoricism
overrodethisproblematic
byitsconception
of "aestheticthought
as cultural
labor,"a reductionof theaestheticto techne.The approachto literary
textsas arenasofethicalreflection
byreasonoftheirformalor generic
is pursuedin muchotherrecentworkin literature
contours
andethicsas
well,especiallystudiesofnarrative
genres(Booth,Company;
Nussbaum,
Love's Knowledgeand PoeticJustice;Newton,NarrativeEthicsand
"Exegesis";Harpham,
Getting
157-82).Ifthereis a mainstream
approach

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14

In PursitoJfEthics

readingsof particularliteraryworkstoday,thisis
to ethical-critical
probablyit.
inquiryappears
of thenewerliterary-ethical
A fourth
preoccupation
of
interdependence
in Haney'sanalogybetweenthesemiantagonistic
a distinction
on
andtechneandtheethics-morality
distinction,
phronesis
Bothunderstand
ethicsas ethicalsensialso comments.
whichAttridge
as codes ofrules("specificobligaandsee morality
bilityororientation
tionsgoverningconcretesituationsin a social context,"accordingto
wantstoprythetwonotionsapartas faras possiYetAttridge
Attridge).
andrisk,"whereasHaney
ethicswith"unpredictability
ble byassociating
This feltdivergencedespitea
arguesfortheirultimateinseparability.
epitomizesa morepervasive
shareddesireto posita similardistinction
to enconversations
literature-and-ethics
concernwithincontemporary
notboundto rulewhileacknowledging
dorsea notionofresponsibility
Booth's
ethicsandmorality.
betweenthecategories
somesortofrelation
fallingintocriticalrelato affirm
pluralreaderresponseswithout
effort
as a "diarhetoric
tivism(Company),Nussbaum'svisionof a Jamesian
andrule"(Love'sKnowledge157),Harpham's
loguebetweenperception
withoutspecifying
particular
idea thatdiscourseconfersimperativity
ofresponsiobligations(Getting5), andaboveall Levinas'sconception
"notthedisclosureofa givenanditsrebilityfortheotheras signifying
ception,buttheexposureof me to theother,priorto everydecision"
(Otherwise141)-all theseseem to workwithand throughthesame
andnormato adjudicatetherelationbetweendisposition
problematic:
of author,
ofreader,
itis consideredfromthestandpoint
whether
tivity,
oflanguage,orofhumanrelations.'
oropportunity,
ofthefuzzyborderthatloomsup when
The problem,
one considerstheethics-morality
is analogousto-some
distinction
with-theevenmorevexingproblemoftherelamightsaycontinuous
tionor distinction
Virtually
betweenthepersonalandthesociopolitical.
ornottheyapproveof"postmodern
ethall partieswouldagree,whether
is the
ics," that"theonlyspace wherethemoralactcan be performed
socialspaceof 'beingwith"'(Bauman185).Butthatconsensusfarfrom
and how theethicaldoes or does not
resolvesthequestionof whether
entailthe"political."Perhapsthetouchiestsingleissueforbothexemitboilsdown,
plarsandcriticsoftheethicalturnis theissueofwhether
of humanrelationsthat
whatever
thenominalagenda,to a privatization
makesthesocialandthepoliticalsecondary.
Ethicsis a gallingly(orexthat
ambidextrous
towardbothprivateand
signifier
points
citingly?)
turn
towardethicsmarked
domains.
Whereas
Foucault's
explicit
public
a shiftof attention
fromstructures
of dominationto practicesof selfforLevinasethicsas first
thepripresupposes
philosophy
actualization,
orityof theclaimoftheotheron theself.Again,on theone hand,Julia
Kristevaunderstands
ethics"to mean thenegativizingof narcissism
withina practice;in otherwords,a practiceis ethicalwhenitdissolves
thosenarcissistic
to thesubfixations
confined
(ones thatare narrowly

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

15

ject) towhichthesignifying
processsuccumbsin itssociosymbolic
relation"(233). Yet,on theotherhand,forTobinSiebers"thedisciplineof
ethicsremainsinextricably
fusedto theproblemofhumancharacter,"
suchthatfromthestandpoint
ofethicalcriticism
even"thedesiretoeliminatetheconstitutive
selfofliterature
has ethicalmotivations
thatcannot
be renounced"
(5). As in thisissueofPMLA,theheterogeneous
bodyof
thatanimatescontemporary
theory
literature-and-ethics
talkandinforms
thecriticalreadingsbased on thattalkconveyspredictably
mixedsignals-to thepointthatsometheorists
ofethicsandtheliterary
havecome
tofavorterminological
like"ethical/political"
hybrids
(Steele,Theorizing
29, 112) or"ethics-politics"
(Newton,"Exegesis"andNarrative
Ethics).
Likewise,inthefiveessaysthatfollowtheethicalturnmanifests
itself
in (re)new(ed)attention,
on theone hand,to theinterpersonal
as the
basisofbothreadingandsociality(Attridge)
andtotherehabilitation
of
aestheticautonomy
as "an ethicalautonomy"
(Haney)and,on theother
hand,to thesociopoliticaldimensionof a thinker
understood
untilrecentlytobe morenarrowly
individualistic
on Emerson)andto
(Albrecht
ethicalaesthetics
as politicalintervention
(Tierney-Tello).
is morecertain
thanthatthequestionoftheplaceofthesocioNothing
politicalwill continueto be debatedwithinand aroundcontemporary
ethicalcriticism.
Forno matter
howstrongly
literary-ethical
inquiryassertstheinseparability
ofsocialandpersonal,
thestarting
pointof"obligation"willcontinueto seemsuspiciously
to manysocialand
privatistic
culturalconstructionists,
notto mentionneo-Marxist
materialists
like
Ebert.Ethicalcriticswilltherefore
likelyremainunderpressure
todemonstrate
howexactlyobligationmightbe understood
as potentnotonly
butalso historically
"culturally"
andpolitically.
In a statement
thatbringstogether
thetwopolarities
ofethics/morality
andethical-moral/political,
Levinasencapsulates
pretty
wellboththeaspirationof foundinga social visionon theconceptionof obligationto
another
andtherisksthereof.
"Morality,"
he insists,"is whatgovernsthe
worldofpolitical'interestedness'";but"thenormwhichmustcontinue
to inspireanddirectthemoralorderis theethicalnormof theinterhuman,"whichadmittedly
"cannotitselflegislateforsocietyor produce
rulesofconductwhereby
societymight
be revolutionised
ortransformed"
butwhichnonetheless
is the"foundation"
ofthe"moral-political
order,"
without
whichthatorder"mustacceptall formsofsocietyincluding
the
fascistor totalitarian,
foritcan no longerevaluateor discriminate
betweenthem"("Ethics"194-95). As Levinas'sextremely
briefremarks
on socialjusticemakeadditionally
clear(Otherwise157-61), he considersit an indispensable
butderivative
codification
of interhumanity.
This modeof thinking
invitesat leastthreecriticisms.
First,it is selfitinsistson antifoundationalism,
contradictory:
butitsuppliesa foundation(interhumanity)
to guardagainsttheinference
that,as Niall Lucy
shows(204-10), can be drawnfroma purelyrelativistic
conceptionof
ethics:"fascismis an ethics,thoughit maynotbe one thatmanyofus

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16

In Pursuit
ofEthics

wouldchoosetoaffirm"
(Lucy236). Butforgive
that,andLevinasis still
vulnerablefromat leasttwodirections.Fromone side (theleft,basically) comes thisrejoinder:How can moralprecepts(e.g., honorthe
claimoftheother)formthebasis of social collectivesandensurea reformedsocietyorpolity?Andeveniftheycan,is therenotevensomethingoppressivelyhomogenizing,if not totalizing,about Levinas's
"other"?(Irigiraydeclares,"The other,[as] woman,he does notnotice
herexistence"[116].)10 Fromtheotherside (theright,
basically)comes
thisinterrogation:
How ethicalis theethosof allowingoneselfto be
heldhostage,without
ofpersonalobligationor a social conmutuality
tractat thefoundation
ofit?Fromthisstandpoint,
bindingoneselfto the
otherannihilates
notonlymoralindividualism
(Ricoeur;see myn8) but,
for
theotheras well,for"unlessyouholdothersresponsible
potentially,
theendsthattheychooseandtheactionsthattheydo,youcannotregard
themas moralandrationalagents,andso youwillnottreatthemas ends
in themselves"
(Korsgaard206).
Two predictionsmightbe made withsome confidence.First,the
sceneofinterpersonality,
orinterhumanity,
towhichcurrent
ethicalcriticismhas beenstrongly
willcontinueto exertitspower,as the
attracted,
critiqueoftheparadigms
of 1970stextuality
and 1980shistoricism
continuesto runitscourse,whileat thesametimepressuresinternal(see
Levinas)andexternal(see Ebert)willcontinueto pushto makeethicity
moresociopolitically
accountable
orelse willdo awaywithitaltogether.
Second,thestayingpowerof literary-ethical
inquirywilldependin no
smallmeasureon itscapacityeitherto self-correct
orto be corrected,
its
forexamplebettersynthesized
emphasison interhumanity
witha social
and/orpoliticalethics.Meanwhile,thereis muchto learn,muchmore
thanthisintroduction
can encompass,
fromtheliterature-and-ethics
conversations
heldso far,as thefiveessaysinthisissueshow.It is hightime
fortheseessaysto speakforthemselves.

Notes
My thanksgo to KrissBasil,JamesDawes,SianneNgai,andDorisSommerfortheirpenetrating
responsesto earlierversionsofthisessayandto theCenterforLiterary
andCulturalStudiesat HarvardUniversity
and theAmericanistSeminarat theUniversity
of
topresent
California,
Irvine,fortheopportunity
anddiscusssomeoftheseideas.
'Significant
booksofliterary
single-author
theory
andcriticism
devotedentirely
orprimarilyto ethicssince1987includeMiller(Ethicsand Versions),
Booth(Company),Nussbaum(Love's KnowledgeandPoeticJustice),
Siebers,Harpham(Getting),
Parker,
Norris,
Newton(Narrative
Ethics),andEaglestone.Also notableis therecentincreaseinbooksnot
primarily
aboutethicsperse thatincludeethicsin thetitleorsubtitle
(e.g.,Phelan;Chow).
2Theoriginal(1990) editionofLentricchia
andMcLaughlin'sCriticalTermsfor
Literary
titled"Ethics";Harpham's
Studyhadnoentry
essaywasaddedforthesecondedition(1995).
3Veynecomments
plausibly,
"Foucaultjudgeditas undesirable
as itwouldbe impossible to resuscitate
thisethics;buthe consideredone of itselements,
namely,theidea ofa

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In Pursuit
ofEthics

17

workoftheselfon theself,to be capableofreacquiring

a contemporary
meaning";"the
"could sustainan
self,takingitselfas a workto be accomplished,"he surmisesfurther,
orreason[ . ]" (7).
ethicsthatis no longersupported
byeithertradition
4G. Jaydoes nothesitateto frameissuesofcanonicity
and theirimplications
forpedagogicalpracticeas ethicalissues,as whenhe discussestheteacher-student
dynamicin an
tendstothinkofquestionsinvolving
intercultural
classroom(e.g., 143). Lauter,however,
muchless a privinotto recognizeethicsas a distinct,
oughtas ideologicalandtherefore
leged,sphere(e.g.,257). Likewise,SmithandGuilloryarebothcentrally
concernedwith
ofaesthetics
on economics
issuesof"value,"butespeciallywithregardto thedependence
(withinthehistory
anddiscourseofcapitalism)
rather
thantoevaluation
as an ethicalproject (althoughsee Smith158-66). Lauter's,Smith's,and Guillory'ssharedcommitment,
tounpacking
ofsocial-institutional
albeitverydifferently
thephenomenon
conexpressed,
theirworkfromthatoftheethicalturnproperatleast
trolsoverinterpretation
distinguishes
as does theearlierworkofFoucault,althoughbythesametokentheirwork
as markedly
seemsalso in a certaindegreetopresagethatturn,
especiallyif,forexample,one's starting
point,likethatofJay-who citesall threeadmiringly-isthepragmatic
questionof"what
to do in thewake oftheend ofconsensusand theadventof multiculturalism"
(6). To a
considerable
and theCultureWarsmightbe thought
of
extent,
Jay'sAmericanLiterature
as thesaga oftheconscienceofa critical-teacherly
whoseeksto makepractical
sensibility
application
ofinstitutions-oriented
likeLauter,Smith,andGuillory.
analysesbyprecursors
In thisframework,
"ethics"and"politics"ofcriticalpracticeeasilyconverge.
5Conspicuous omissionsincludetherelationofcontemporary
literary-ethical
studyto
ofgendercategoriesbyfeminist
thedestabilization
to Bakhtinian
dialoandqueertheory,
gism,toHabermasian
discourseethics,andtoecocriticism.
6EbertcitesCornell(113) here,butshe includesin thewide sweepofherMarxistcrifeminist
ornot,thatshesees as abandoning
thepossibility
tiqueall theoretical
discourses,
of "a sociallytransformative
politics"by "positinghistoryas narrative,
as discursive
event"(230, 229).
7A different
versionofreadingethicsis beingdevelopedalongthelinesofFoucauldian
self-care:readingas a praxisof self-discipline
or self-improvement.
See, e.g.,Augst,in a
context.
history-of-the-book-studies
8Withregardto theauthority
LevinasgrantstheotherovertheI, Ricoeuris particularly
in denouncing
vehement
whathe takesto be "thehyperbole
ofexteriority"
in Otherwise
ThanBeing,withitsconception
oftheI as needingto openitselfto thepersecutions
ofthe
no less requiresthegestureofpardonandexpiation"(Ricoeur
other,
"who,as an offender,
339,338). WithregardtoLevinas'santiaestheticism,
on whichHaneyalso remarks,
Eaglestonemakesa braveattempt
(154-70) toredeemLevinasfromhisexpressions
ofPlatonisticdistrust
forartifacts
as substitutions
ofimageforobjectbyworking
fromhisvalorization
of "saying"(in Otherwise),
whichLevinasuses as an honorific
metaphor
forethicalexpressivity.
Eaglestone(likeHaney)fullyrecognizes,
however,
thatitis easierto makethe
case forLevinasas a kindofverbalartist
thanas a philosopher
ofan ethicalaesthetics.
9Thisis by no meansto assertthatall formsof contemporary
literary-ethical
inquiry
commitment
toa "postmodern"
presuppose
understanding
ofethics(Bauman,e.g.,10-15)
as ungrounded
in moralcodes or laws,save forthepostulateofa "moralselfconstituted
byresponsibility"
(11). LevinasandHarphamwouldprobablyacceptthispremise;Booth
and Nussbaumprobablywouldnot.All seemkeenlyinterested
in theethics-morality
or
however.
disposition-codes
problematic,
l'See, however,Chalier'sdefenseofLevinas'sfeminism
and Chanter'sequivocalappraisal,in thesamevolume.Spivakis evenmorecategoricalthanIrigiray,
asserting
that
thewhole"subject-ship
ofethicsis certainly
male"forLevinas("FrenchFeminism"
76).

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