INTRODUCTION

This second aim deserves special emphasis. Over the last two decades, Cavell’s work has begun to provoke widespread interest, and to attract critical scrutiny in the many disciplines that it traverses – e.g. philosophy, film studies, literary studies, and cultural studies. But, even though this critical reception reflects the broad range of inquiry that is Cavell’s hallmark, it rarely attempts to understand his concerns as contributing to a single, internally coherent, enterprise. The present volume is constructed with an eye to remedying this lack. The papers brought together here focus on disparate areas of Cavell’s work; but, considered in each other’s company, they illuminate connections among modes of thought distinctive of these areas, thereby shedding light on the broader sweep of Cavell’s thought. This collection thus addresses, not only readers familiar with most of Cavell’s opus, but also those who are just becoming acquainted with his writings or whose acquaintance extends no farther than one local part of his overall project.