Reconstructing Contexts

Book excerpt: In particular, Hume flatly denies the intellectual legitimacy of 'literary history' as it is commonly practised and attempts to disentangle such history from the practice of historicism. The final chapter is devoted to a cogent discussion of how archaeo-historicism relates to various forms of contemporary theory. Although addressed primarily to literary critics, this wide-ranging and bold work will be of interest to historians and cultural critics as well.