For at least the last thirty-five years English departments have been in a state of crisis, roiled by curricular debates, shrinking budgets, and declining enrollments. In response to the skyrocketing cost of higher education and growing skepticism about the value of a college degree—let alone a degree in literature—our profession has turned toward the public humanities to showcase the merits and value of our work as teachers and researchers. These efforts have had limited success, and, as our retiring colleagues are replaced by contingent faculty and literature programs around the country are sharply reduced or eliminated, we have good reason to fear for the future of our profession. Some of the recent criticisms of literary study have come from inside the house, as it were, with John Guillory’s book Professing Criticism (2022) prompting renewed debate about the merits and consequences of institutionalized programs of literary inquiry. It seems that we...

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