Paul Cantor Complete Work — Paul A. Cantor

The introduction to Part One of The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture, “Freedom and Order in the Western” Introduction

Popular CultureVirginiaJuly 1, 2020The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tube

The introduction argues that analyzing pop culture may require modes of interpretation that differ from those often invoked in the world of high culture. The creative models often deployed in pop culture—multiple authorship and improvisation followed by feedback—do not necessarily result in inferior art. Introduction

Popular CultureVirginiaJuly 1, 2020The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture

The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Preface

Taking freedom as its central subject, the book shows that American films and television shows have celebrated liberty and also analyzes the way that the free markets of commercial entertainment in the United States have repeatedly produced works of genuine artistic quality. Preface

Popular CultureVirginiaJune 30, 2020The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture

Milch's Last Stand

Deadwood has a different take on the common myth of the western. What is commonly billed as the triumph of civilization over barbarism is reinterpreted by Milch as the imposition of a remote and uncaring government on people hitherto living in freedom on the frontier. Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 26, 2020Essay, Popular Culture, Film, Television, Deadwood

Achilles Reborn

Shakespeare was looking in two directions when composing 1 Henry IV. He was looking back to Homer and the Iliad in order to view English history against the background of the classical heroic tradition. At the same time, he was looking at contemporary events in the court of Elizabeth. Essay

ShakespeareVirginiaMay 25, 2020Henry IV, Shakespeare, Iliad, Hufnagel

The Empire of the Future: Imperialism and Modernism in H.G. Wells

Wells's The Time Machine reveals the profound profound connection between imperialism and modernism. Essay

Science Fiction, H.G. WellsVirginiaMay 24, 2020Hufnagel, H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Pos, Essay

The Uncanonical Dante: The Divine Comedy and Islamic Philosophy

It is only by reading Dante noncanonically that we become aware of the full richness and complexity of his thought, especially the way he is open to countercurrents of ideas within the supposedly rigid orthodoxy of the Middle Ages. Essay

Great BooksVirginiaMay 16, 2020Great Books, Dante, Essay

Shakespeare & Politics

Kristol and Cantor discuss how Shakespeare used plays set in ancient Rome to explore themes such as republicanism, political greatness, and tyranny. Conversation

ShakespeareVirginiaMay 13, 2020Bill Kristol, Shakespeare, Conversation

Literature and Liberty

Paul Cantor discusses works of literature that can teach us about liberty. Conversation

Shakespeare's Roman Plays

Cantor explains why we should study Shakespeare’s Roman plays, and interprets Coriolanus. Paul Cantor analyzes Julius Caesar, and the impact of philosophy on Roman politics. Conversation

The Canon, From Greek Tragedy to Television

Cantor explains why great art is usually popular in its time, and why today’s best television shows will have enduring cultural value. How do media such as Greek tragedy and TV evolve from simple beginnings to become venues for great art? Conversation

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 13, 2020Bill Kristol, Television, Great Books, Video

American Dream

Considering the American Dream, Cantor reflects on why “a country which promises freedom can’t guarantee that freedom won’t be misused.” Conversation

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 13, 2020Bill Kristol, Conversation, Video

Shakespeare Authorship Question

Paul Cantor explains and debunks the prominent arguments suggesting that Shakespeare could not have written his plays. Cantor and Kristol discuss what the “Shakespeare Authorship Question” reveals about our own ideas about literary genius. Conversation

ShakespeareVirginiaMay 12, 2020Bill Kristol, Shakespeare, Conversation

The Western

What is a Western? How and when did The Western emerge as an art form? Paul Cantor shares his perspective. Conversation

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 12, 2020Western, John Ford, Bill Kristol, Film, Television

Harold Bloom

Rarely does a literary critic display the kind of genius and creativity characteristic of the famous authors he analyzes, but Harold Bloom did just that.

Literary TheoryVirginiaMay 12, 2020Literary Theory, Essay, Harold Bloom

Introduction

Introduction to Popular Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream. Introduction

VirginiaMay 11, 2020American Dream

Aristocracy in America: Huckleberry Finn and the Democratic Art of the Imposture

Huckleberry Finn is a dark and deeply unnerving work. It is filled with a seemingly endless parade of con artists, impostors, vigilantes, lynch mobs, and other practitioners of fraud and deception or cruelty and inhumanity. Essay

FictionVirginiaMay 10, 2020American Dream, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

The Talented Mr. Dukenfield: W.C. Fields and the American Dream

W.C. Fields lived the American Dream, but he struggled enough to do so that he became extremely aware of its dark side.Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 9, 2020American Dream, W.C. Fields, Essay, Film

I Believe in America: The Godfather Story and the Immigrant's Tragedy

By linking that dream to the immigrant experience, The Godfather I and The Godfather II tell a foundational American story, perhaps the foundational American story. Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 8, 2020American Dream, Popular Culture, The Godfather, Godfather

Frankenstein at 200

Frankenstein can teach us a valuable lesson about culture—the way that high art grows out of and can in turn influence commercial culture, even the mass media. Essay

FictionVirginiaMay 8, 2020Fiction, Frankenstein, Popular Culture, Romanticism, Mary Shelley, Film