Loose reading? Sedgwick, Austen and critical practice

This article uses Eve Sedgwick's 'Jane Austen and the masturbating girl' to explore the place of reading in contemporary critical practice. Noting tha t hostile accounts of Sedgwick have focused on her alleged inability to 're ad closely,' the article argues that Sedgwick's work represents a wider mov e away from close reading to a criticism characterized by confession, autob iography, against-the grain reading, fantasy, parody and creative writing. This model-which I call 'loose reading'-throws light on the assumptions of close reading; it also has implications for political activism and teaching practice in schools. This article explores Sedgwick's place within lesbian and gay studies and queer theory; it also relates her loose readings to fe minist, new historicist and postcolonial criticism. Although welcoming many aspects of loose reading, especially its relation to fantasy, it cautions against a total acceptance of non-attentive textual analysis. The article a lso discusses the relationship between reading practice and the role of 'go od citizenship' in Britain's National Curriculum.