Critical Practice Theorists and Creativity

What is the relationship between theory and practice in the creative arts today?
In this book, Martin McQuillan offers a critical interrogation of the idea of practice-led research. He goes beyond the recent vocabulary of research management to consider the more interesting question of the emergence of a cultural space in which philosophy, theory, history and practice are becoming indistinguishable.

McQuillan considers the work of a number of writers and thinkers whose work crosses the divide between theoretical (academic) and creative practice, including Alain Badiou and Terry Eagleton, and the longer tradition of 'theory-writing' that runs through the work of Hélène Cixous, Roland Barthes and Louis Althusser. His aim is to elucidate the contemporary ramifications of a relationship that has been contested throughout the long history of philosophy, from Plato's dialogues to Derrida's 'Envois'.

Martin McQuillan is Professor of Literary Theory and Cultural Analysis, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Kingston University, UK, where he is also Co-Director of The London Graduate School. His books include Roland Barthes, or, The Profession of Cultural Studies, Deconstruction after 9/11, Paul de Man, and (as co-author) Deconstructing Disney.

Critical Practice: A HistoryAesthetic Education and Aesthetic IdeologyCritical Practices:i. Theory-Poetsii. Deconstructivist Architectureiii. Filmosophyiv. Art TheoryEpilogue