Keywords
Raymond Williams’ seminal exploration of the history of meaning of some of the most important words in the English language.
First published in 1976, and expanded in 1983, KEYWORDS reveals how the meanings of 131 words – including ‘art’, ‘class’, ‘family’, ‘media’, ‘sex’ and ‘tradition’ – were formed and subsequently altered and redefined as the historical contexts in which they were used changed.
Neither a defining dictionary or glossary, KEYWORDS is rather a brilliant investigation into how the meanings of some of the most important words in the English language have shifted over time, and the forces that brought about those shifts.
An academic, and the writer of both non-fiction and fiction, Raymond Williams (1921–88) was one of the most important and influential British thinkers of the twentieth century. Williams wrote about politics, culture, mass media and literature, and his work was key to the development of cultural studies. His best-known books include ‘Culture and Society’, ‘The Long Revolution’ and ‘The Country and the City’.