Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society"First published in 1976, Raymond Williams' highly acclaimed Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society is a collection of lively essays on words that are critical to understanding the modern world. In these essays, Williams, a renowned cultural critic, demonstrates how these key words take on new meanings and how these changes reflect the political bent and values of our past and current society. He chose words both essential and intangible--words like nature, underprivileged, industry, liberal, violence, to name a few--and, by tracing their etymology and evolution, grounds them in a wider political and cultural framework. The result is an illuminating account of the central vocabulary of ideological debate in English in the modern period. This edition features a new original foreword by Colin MacCabe, Distinguished Professor of English and Literature, University of Pittsburgh, that reflects on the significance of Williams' life and work. Keywords remains as relevant today as it was over thirty years ago, offering a provocative study of our language and an insightful look at the society in which we live"-- |
Contents
Introduction | 11 |
Preface to the Second Edition | 27 |
Anarchism D | 93 |
Copyright | |
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abstract active adjective anarchism argument association became bourgeois capitalism capitalist civilization common complex conscious context contrast creative critical culture defined definition democracy derived describe dialectical difficult distinction distinguished dominant E. P. Thompson earlier sense early economic effect empiricism English especially example extended false consciousness formal formalist French French Revolution human ideas ideology important indicate individual industrial industrial revolution intellectual interesting Jane Austen kind labour language levée en masse liberal literature mainly Marxist mass mass media material meaning mediation ment modern sense movement nature neutral noun older sense organization original overlap particular period person philosophical phrase physical political sense popular positive practice predominant qq.v radical range realism reference relationships representative democracy revolution seen sense ii significant singular social socialist society specialized specific T. S. Eliot tendency term theory tion unfavourable usage variations word