02
Essays / Criticism / Context
Literature & Ideas
The ideas behind the books, movements and questions that endure.
Literary criticism, cultural history, philosophy and accessible explainers connecting works to the worlds and ideas that shaped them.
WATCH / LONG FORM
Go to WatchFull Films
0126:11
Literary conversation
What Makes a Classic?
Why do some books survive generations while others disappear from view?
0222:37
Critical essay
The Theatre of Absurdity
A study of absurdist drama, postwar anxiety and language at its breaking point.
0334:16
Literary documentary
Women of the Sangam Age
Poetry, society and women’s voices across one of the world’s oldest literary traditions.
WATCH / SHORT FORM
All InkCutsLiterary InkCuts
InkCut0100:52
One ideaWhy Woolf Needed a Room
The economic argument hidden inside one of literature’s most famous rooms.
InkCut0200:48
Symbol in focusWhat Does the Green Light Mean?
Desire, distance and the future Gatsby can never quite reach.
InkCut0300:41
Idea in 41 secondsKafka and the Absurd Morning
Alienation distilled into one impossible awakening.