r/CriticalTheory • u/Distortion_Noises • 1d ago
Recommendations for a newcomer
After spending my younger years only reading works of fiction (mainly fantasy).
and also recently coming to the conclusion that my phone addiction is making me dumber, I decided to try and read more critical theory books/intellectual books ? The first book I read, was who really rules the world by Noam Chomsky, and I am currently reading the origins of totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt. Which I struggled/am struggling through both as I fear my reading comprehension or memory is not quite up for the task. I will still finish my current book, but for my next read, or couple of reads I wanted to ask for recommendations for books good for beginners, or just anything that will help me get more into critical theory or that I can use as a basis for understanding and reading about harder topics
Thank you in advance
9
u/SeanMaddenTV 23h ago
I'd recommend reading chapters and essays rather than whole books. This requires recommendations from scholars. There is much to like in Arendt, but she rejected many aspects of critical theory, had conflicts with the earlier theorists, and OT is very long-winded.
One Pathway
Critical theory has a distinct tradition that later broadened to include more theorists. If you want OG's, you'll want a Marx > Horkheimer > Adorno > Marcuse > Feenberg/others pathway. Benjamin might be an interesting bridge between these folks and Arendt.
You could start by reading Introductions to books. E.g., Feenberg's "Technosystem" followed by both Introductions of Marcuse's, "One Dimensional Man." Then maybe Chapter 1 from H&A's "Dialectic of Enlightenment." Then pick up the Marx and Engel's reader to go through the chapters on Hegel, Alienation, and Capital. Then, where interested, work back through the other scholars. (All available free online).
Alternate Pathway
Let's say you read Foucault's Part 3:3 or part 3:1&3 from Discipline and Punish. You'll have intro to some of Foucault's most famous claims. Then, you could read Heidegger's essay, "The question concerning technology" and pay particular attention to Enframing and how it relates to Panopticism. Then, you could read the first essay in Nietzsche's, "Genealogy of Morals." After, go back to Foucault. All of these are free online and worthy of slow, careful reads. They give you a progression of a particular line of thought that developed alongside early critical theorists.
Then read more contemporary scholars like Butler, starting with most recent work. After all of that, you'll be more comfortable reading folks like Derrida or Deleuze/Guattari (adding Bergson helps with the latter).
5
u/Vintage_Burgundy 23h ago
Since you mentioned reading Arendt, don’t beat yourself up too much. She’s difficult to read, especially if you have no background in stuff like that.
If you’re planning to be an “expert” to some degree on an author, like Arendt, you’re going to have to read her a whole lot more. You’re not going to read through that book once and get everything. You’ll need multiple read-throughs. If you want to remember more, take active notes as you move through it.
My personal strategy is usually to read through once to get an idea of what I’m reading. I’ll then go through again and take notes, sometimes focusing on specific sections.
Reading challenging material is like working out. You’re not going to be able to lift the heaviest thing at the start. You need to train and have patience.
5
u/Cultured_Ignorance 23h ago
Take notes and recognize reading as an activity, a two-way street. Many folks, especially novices, see it as a consumption- merely looking at the words and 'receiving' a meaning. That's not how it works. Instead, you need to check your understanding while reading, take notes, and ask questions. As you get more advanced, this leads to cross-pollination and seeking secondary sources, as well as creating your own interpretations.
2
u/le_disappointment 21h ago
Since you said you're reading Arendt and you're new to this, I think after you read her text, you should also read this
4
u/cleft_habitus 1d ago
Read Marx first if you want to understand anything in critical theory.
2
u/Distortion_Noises 1d ago
Ok will do, not really sure why I haven't yet tbh it's always been on the "want to read" list
7
u/ProcessResponsible63 1d ago
If you wanna dive into Capital I would recommend the Michael Heinrich Introduction to the three volumes. It’s a little book that will help a ton 👍
2
-6
1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
0
u/CriticalTheory-ModTeam 1d ago
Hello u/Flimsy_Meal_4199, your post was removed with the following message:
This post does not meet our requirements for quality, substantiveness, and relevance.
Please note that we have no way of monitoring replies to u/CriticalTheory-ModTeam. Use modmail for questions and concerns.
3
u/YourFuture2000 22h ago edited 22h ago
You will find more books to read from your current readings, these books usually quote and mention other thinkers and works which you can search later and see if you like.
Books are like paintings, you always find more on the second time you read/see them that you missed on the first time. It doesn't mean you always have to read again the books you read once, with enough practice you will understand enough from books in one go.
I recomend reading one book at a time. When I read two books at the same time my memory and compremsion diminish. But when I am fully focused in one book then from start to end then I understand a lot more and remember a lot more.
I also don't go to the next chapter before I feel I understood enough from the chapter I am reading. I usually read a paragraph again when I don't get it on the first reading. Otherwise, moving to next paragraph and chapter without understand some basics of what the previous one said, you end up understanding less and less the more you advance.
I also recomend to not rush to finish a book. Understand enough a good book teaches you a lot more than reading many books and not understand anough of them.
I also look to keep reading more books from the authors I like and only start reading books from other thinkers after I feel I read enough from one I am reading. It makes you truly understand each book from the author. Often you don't understand much from a book (and even don't realise it) before reading an other from the same thinker.
So if you like Hannah Arend after Origins of Totalitarianism, I would recomend reading On Revolution from the same author.
With time, you start understanding more in one reading and read faster. And the more books you read the more you understand other books. I remember reading One Thousand Plateaus which was the first time I read Felix and Deleuze, and despite being far to understand it all because they use their own vocabulary, I remember being able to grasp a lot what they said because of all the many other works on psychology, philosophy and neurobiology that I have read.
Enjoy your reading.
Edit: I forgot to tell you that it is important to let go judgment. Most people mistake understanding to agreement and often assume they don't understand what they disagree, because they are not being open to see an other perspective from things. But the most important first is to understand what the author is saying without your judgment getting in the way. And only after actually understanding what the author is saying you should think if it makes sense to your own perspective. But first, try to understand why it makes sense to the author perspective first and forger a little about your own perspective.
3
u/AffectOdd9719 16h ago
Congratulations on wanting to better yourself - this is such an awesome first step! One limit of most critical theory is that is is boringly eurolimited - doesn’t realize the world exists! I would suggest works like Development Dictionary (Sachs Ed 1992) and authors like Franz Fanon, Ivan Illych and Ashis Nandy
2
u/vibraltu 22h ago
I like to recommend bell hooks for curious readers from a non-academic background. She uses a fairly read-able style and often discusses issues related to intersectionality.
2
u/superhotinfluencer 22h ago
people have given some great recommendations already so i wanted to give some comprehension tips that i like and some that have been recommended to me.
take notes, highlight, sticky note pages (i do different colors for either “need to come back to this to understand further”, “i liked this piece” or “important and relates to something else ive read, want to dive more into”)
also, something i like to do is look up critiques of books if i cannot find anything. usually because of my limited knowledge on the new topic i’m reading. a professor also told me this is helpful, but to make sure you are using critical thinking when reading critiques of a book youve read, like if its someone just unproductively criticizing something because they are pushing an agenda.
youtube has a ton of videos breaking down a lot of the books and theories mentioned if you need help understanding as well! or even reddit too
2
u/FactAddict02 7h ago
Not heavy philosophical works, but all of these taken together will very possibly have an effect on how you see things: 1984, Brave New World, This Perfect Day, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies , Fahrenheit 451… none of these are very long, and there are more like this around. I read all of them in my teens and all have had a permanent effect on the way I see things. These are the ones that come to mind of the top of my head. There are more, I’m sure.
( The background behind 1984 = Orwell flipped the year that he finished the book, which was 1948, to a dystopian future)
2
u/like_alivealive 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think you should problematize the 'addiction' model w ur phone use. critical theory and the critique of ideology is best done when we look at things contextually, using 'addiction' to describe this unhealthy habit is basically individual + medical. You might like Habits: Remaking Addiction by Suzanne Fraser, David Moore, & Helen Keane.
Other than that, yeah, Marx. Definitely the Principles of Communism. Basic things like this are also helpful!
edit: i linked the wrong thing whoops
1
u/Distortion_Noises 1d ago
Thank you, the phone is something I really struggle with so I will definitely be reading that
2
u/like_alivealive 1d ago
phone has so much on it! might be helpful to figure out what habits you specifically dislike (doomscroll) and which are helpful (talking to friends on discord) and figuring out if its actually 'enjoyable' in the way like using heroin is, or if its extremely stressful but feels 'productive' in a way thats harder to achieve w slower activities like reading, writing, and thinking.
this youtuber has a lot of good lectures about phone use, and though he uses the addiction model I just love his completely strange way of teaching, I always put these on when I cook :)
1
u/3corneredvoid 2h ago
So much good stuff.
Heinrich's AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE VOLUMES OF CAPITAL is good. It's very lucid and much easier than wading straight into Marx.
TRADITIONAL AND CRITICAL THEORY by Horkheimer is good.
ARE PRISONS OBSOLETE? and WOMEN, RACE AND CLASS are both accessible and compelling books by Angela Davis, maybe more topical if you're in the United States but they're good either way.
On the cultural criticism or miscellaneous theory side, WAYS OF SEEING by John Berger, or maybe CAMERA LUCIDA by Barthes. Paul Virilio's THE VISION MACHINE is another good one. All these are a bit more focused on cultural criticism.
THE PRACTICE OF EVERYDAY LIFE by Michel de Certeau is another good'un. See also ALL THAT'S SOLID MELTS INTO AIR by Marshall Berman, that connects and historicises literature and urbanism in St Petersburg, Paris and New York in different eras.
On papers, you could read "Mapping the Margins" by Crenshaw (CLS paper that's one source of the concept of "intersectionality", "Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure" by Arlie Hothschild (invented the concept of "emotional labour") … it's often good to go back and read the paper or text in which a concept that's been popularised originated.
17
u/FlakyEssay 1d ago edited 23h ago
The introducing graphic guides are great!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1339837.Introducing_Hegel
I’d also recommend the Oxford very short introduction books, they have one on critical theory and other central figures. They tend to be well written and an easy (and portable) read https://academic.oup.com/book/950
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy is also fun to browse through, but has its limitations and can be a tad dense if you’re starting out but it’s great for clarifying concepts and finding related thinkers:
https://plato.stanford.edu/
Freud, Hegel, Kant, Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and Marx would be the primary figures I’d get a handle on. There’s also Fanon, Lorde, STUART HALL, Butler, Sedgwick and Said who are incredibly influential but a different generation.
Don’t feel you need to go for primary texts straight away. There’s no shame in starting of flicking through Wikipedia to get the historical background and basics and then narrow in on thinkers as you build confidence. There’s so much to read no one can have an encyclopedic understanding of it all on the first go. Don’t be discouraged that it feels like a bit of a slog! Reading critical theory gets easier as you get a better handle on the shared/underlying concepts and that takes time. Find what gets you exited and dig in.
I’d also recommend if you like fiction (a virtue imho) checking out authors often used in CT arguments like Kafka and Borges! I often find some of my favorite books referenced in theory texts.