Critical Inquiry

"To say that translation is not original writing may be stating the obvious, but considering this statement in terms of linguistic relativity has far-reaching implications." From our new issue, read Eugenia Kelbert's "Translation as Different": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"Repair the World explores the intricacies of six existential challenges . . . that literature seeks to address, with writing and reading functioning as therapeutic tools." Bogdan Vişan and Ioana Danielescu on Alexandre Gefen's Repair the World: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/bogdan_vian_an…

"Yusoff’s deft—and distinctive—notational system peppers her arguments throughout and buttresses her commitment to forging new modes of thinking about matter." New in review, Eyad Houssami on Kathryn Yusoff's Geologic Life, from @DukePress: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/eyad_houssami_…

"It makes more solid sense to view Chinese experience in art and tech not as an outlier siloed in its black box but rather as a lifeworld that has spiraling relevance for everyone." From our new issue, read Margaret Hillenbrand's "Portals to the Soul": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"After World War I, efforts to establish a nationwide interlibrary loan system intensified and were finally formalized in 1924 with a law that regulated its procedures." From our new issue, read Hannah Wiemer's "Libraries as 'Academic Traffic Facilities'": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"What if one were to extend generosity to envy itself and thereby argue for a more nuanced understanding of envy?" From our new issue, read Nick Salvato's "Cuteness Envy": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"Open Admissions highlights redistributions of classroom authority that link contemplation to action and foreground the classroom’s permeability to its world." New in review, Cole Adams on Danica Savonick's Open Admissions, from @DukePress: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/cole_adams_rev…

"What makes the world worse today is that we cannot engage with the anticipatory emotion of hope." Read Ana Cecilia Dinerstein's "On Prefigurative Resistance, or How to Recover the Terrain of Hope" on the CI blog. critinq.wordpress.com/2025/07/03/on-…

"Like other acts of refusal to perpetuate the status quo, going childfree receives attention that ranges from the exuberant...to the despairing." From our new issue, read Heather Houser's "White Women Wondering and the Contortions of Childfree Writing": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"Immanent Critiques leverages Jay’s encyclopedic understanding of critical theory’s history against a set of pressing contemporary problems to unpack the tensions in both." Alexei Procyshyn on Martin Jay's Immanent Critiques, from @VersoBooks: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexei_procysh…

Summer is here! Featuring essays by Alan Liu, Heather Houser, Nick Salvato, Hannah Wiemer, Margaret Hillenbrand, and Eugenia Kelbert. criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/past_issues/is…

"The flow of curricular materials from the humanities and social sciences into data science will likely be inexorable." From our new issue, read Alan Liu's "Data Science and the Post-Liberal Arts University": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

"Any reader will learn a great deal, about Spain and New Spain, translation and imitation, authority and imagination, whether or not they hold the walls of Thebes in mind." Stephanie Burt on Leah Middlebrook's Amphion, from @UChicagoPress: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/stephanie_burt…

Summer is here. With essays by Alan Liu, Heather Houser, Nick Salvato, Hannah Wiemer, Margaret Hillenbrand, Eugenia Kelbert. criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/past_issues/is…

"In Hansen's view, the four stories of Intolerance should be seen as Griffith's attempt to rebuild the tower of Babel." From our Summer 2008 issue, read Yuri Tsivian's "'What Is Cinema?' An Agnostic Answer": journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…