Aliya A Ali explores how kinship and marriage alliances shaped political power and governance in the early Islamic city of Kūfa.
At just the age of 34, Bill Readings sadly died in a plane crash. He left behind a legacy of critical thinking and debate and was well renowned for being an outstanding thinker and a rigorous yet caring mentor. To…
Can the contents of an academic book be expressed by means other than words? In centuries past, it was common for a book to have a lavishly illustrated cover which, through signs and symbols, informed the prospective reader what the…
Last month we celebrated the writing of Hélène Cixous, both as part of Women’s History Month and of OLR’s 40th Anniversary. This month, we are sticking with the ever-wonderful Cixous as we delve into Gilles Deleuze’s article, ‘Hélène Cixous…
Welcome to March, where we are not only celebrating OLR’s 40th Anniversary, but also Women’s History Month. In honour of these two events, we are sharing the work of Hélène Cixous. An academic, philosopher, literary theorist, playwright and feminist,…
Welcome to February, where once again we are delving into the work of Jean-François Lyotard. A thinker and a critic, Lyotard was interested in the relationship between image and text, so it comes as no surprise that he examined…
Not many people will read Whitehead’s recent book in this generation; not many will read it in any generation. But its influence will radiate through concentric circles of popularization until the common man will think and work in the light…
Oxford Literary Review (OLR) founded in 1977 by Ian McLeod, Ann Wordsworth and Robert J. C. Young, is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. To celebrate, in each month of 2017 the Edinburgh University Press blog will highlight an influential article published…
Graham Harman, Speculative Realism series editor, interviews Markus Gabriel, author of Fields of Sense and Why the World Does Not Exist. It's a long conversation, and very rich, so fix yourself a cup of tea or coffee, pop your phone on silent, and settle down for a read.
By Gabriel Rockhill Theory is a particular type of practice, with its own set of rules, rituals and sanctions. To participate in its more institutionalised and prominent forms, it is necessary to engage with these norms and to negotiate one’s…