University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Departmental Seminars in History and Philosophy of Science > The two cultures controversy: science, literature and cultural politics in postwar Britain

  Browse A-Z

Log in

Googledetails Microsoftdetails

🔐 Log In

Information on

Subscribing to talksdetails Finding a talkdetails Adding a talkdetails Disseminating talksdetails Help and Documentationdetails

ℹī¸ Information

The two cultures controversy: science, literature and cultural politics in postwar Britain

Download to your calendar using vCal

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Lauren Kassell .

This talk will be about my recent book The Two Cultures Controversy: Science, Literature and Cultural Politics in Postwar Britain (Cambridge, 2009). Ever since the scientist-turned-novelist C.P. Snow clashed with literary critic F.R. Leavis in the early 1960s, it has been a commonplace to lament that intellectual life is divided between ‘two cultures’, the arts and sciences. Yet why did a topic that had long been discussed inspire such ferocious controversy at this particular moment? This talk answers that question by recasting this dispute as an ideological conflict between competing visions of Britain’s past, present and future. By excavating the political stakes of the ‘two cultures’ controversy, this talk seeks to explain the workings of cultural politics during the 1960s more generally, while also revising the meaning of a term that continues to be evoked to this day.

This talk is part of the Departmental Seminars in History and Philosophy of Science series.

This talk is included in these lists:

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.

Other lists

Department Of Plant Sciences Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Cambridge University Engineering Department, xl669's list

Other talks

Group Presentation 1 The rise of local cartography in Europe, 12th-14th century Zooming in on the assembly of galaxies in the early Universe Title to be confirmed Tea and Coffee Break Title to be confirmed
 

Š 2006-2025 Talks.cam, University of Cambridge. Contact Us | Help and Documentation | Privacy and Publicity