The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "dandy" as "a man who affects extreme elegance in clothes and manners." Take a gander at the illustration next to the definition, and you could easily see a photograph of entertainment legend Noel Coward. While it's hard to find one word to capture th

Bright, Charming, Clever, Ironic, Musical comedy, Political, Witty

In a 1909 essay called "How to Write a Play," George Bernard Shaw argued that the great playwright must "pick out the significant incidents from the chaos of daily happenings and arrange them so that their relation to one another becomes significant, thus changing us from bewildered spectators of a m

Composed, Dark, Irish renaissance, Lyrical, Political, Sincere

Terry Eagleton is one of the few contemporary literary critics who haven't bought into Postmodernism wholesale. At a time when the terminology of Deconstruction is promulgated enthusiastically (and meaninglessly) in academia, Eagleton roots himself firmly in traditional Marxism. He maintains a carefu

Charming, Contemplative, Marxism/ideology critique, Political, Sophisticated, Witty

Style is an unspoken language of identity. But what do things like clothes and hairdos mean? How should we interpret a mohawk as opposed to a beehive, pedalpushers versus intentionally ripped jeans, ska music versus hardcore? Dick Hebdige thinks he has the answer. Hebdige's slim 1979 monograph "Su

Clever, Cultural studies/new historicism, Eclectic, Pioneering, Political, Urban