Partial, Passionate, Political: Writing Criticism in Troubled Times

Floor Three, Susan and John Hess Family Theater

4Columns is an online magazine of arts criticism aimed at a general audience that covers the breadth of contemporary culture, from literature to film to performance to the visual arts. Embracing criticism as a writerly genre in which singular passions ignite public discourse, 4Columns invokes Charles Baudelaire’s nineteenth-century rallying call: “To justify its existence, criticism must be partial, passionate, and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive view that opens the widest horizons.” 

The publication launched in September 2016—less than two months before the presidential election. Now in the era of President Trump, 4Columns brings together several of its contributors from different disciplines to consider afresh the relevance of Baudelaire’s credo and what forms engaged criticism might take in our newly politicized cultural landscape.  

With contributions by Geeta Dayal, Aruna D'Souza, Ed Halter, Tobi Haslett, and Andrea K. Scott. Margaret Sundell, editor of 4Columns, moderates the discussion.

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