Nathalie Sarraute, “Tropism XVIII”

On the outskirts of London, in a little cottage with percale curtains, its little

back lawn sunny and all wet with rain.

The big, wisteria-framed window in the studio, opens on to this lawn.

A cat with its eyes closed, is seated quite erect on the warm stone.

A spinster lady with white hair, and pink cheeks that tend towards purple,

is reading an English magazine in front of the door.

She sits there, very stiff, very dignified, quite sure of herself and of others,

firmly settled in her little universe. She knows that in a few moments the bell

will ring for tea.

Down below, the cook, Ada, is cleaning vegetables at a table covered with

white oilcloth. Her face is motionless, she appears to be thinking of nothing.

She knows that it will soon be time to toast the buns, and ring the bell for tea.

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Peter Barry suggests (in his book, Beginning Theory, second ed., p. 36) that much of contemporary critical theory agrees upon/places emphasis upon five points/claims:
"Politics is pervasive,
Language is constitutive,
Truth is provisional,
Meaning is contingent,
Human nature is a myth."

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Habib's intro.: This quote strikes me as worth pondering for our thoughts/reactions/responses: "In his Critique of Judgment Kant articulated for the first time a systematic formulation of the autonomy of art and literature, as a domain free of the constraints of morality or utility" (Habib 4). And the last paragraph of Habib's introduction seems to restate similar implications, ending with this sentence: "The battle is about to be fought" (8). How do we start to speculate upon, talk about these ideas?