The essay “What is a Humanistic Critique?” is Abram's keynote address at the symposium titled “The Emperor Dressed Again: Critique of Critical Theory,” which took place in 1992 at the University of Alabama. Distinguished literary critics, philosophers, and scholars participated in the symposium, including John Searle, Ihab Hassan, David Lehman, Richard Levin, and others.

The theme (and apparent goal) of the symposium was the “thorough examination” of poststructuralist, radical theories, among which deconstruction holds a prominent place. The tone of many presentations was combative, ironic, or even sarcastic. But Abram, always didactic and methodical, after reminding that “critique does not mean hostility,” undertakes to analyze key positions of poststructuralist theories, ideas, and practices, showing both their internal contradictions and their consequences.

He will examine certain critical theories “from within,” looking at “what elements and what factors have made them appear not only credible but also persuasive to rational people,” and will indicate “what interesting insights exist in these theories that those of us with different stances as critics should be mindful of.” He will also show why “contemporary theories, when applied to literary criticism,” are “inadequate for the literary texts they aim to interpret and often distorting in the reading methods they utilize and propose.”

A large part of the essay covers the description of the antihumanism of structuralist and poststructuralist theories (Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Paul de Man), the questioning of fundamental concepts and references of traditional thought and criticism, such as “human,” “humanity,” “the subject,” “subjectivity,” “the person,” “the self.” For these theorists, people – the author, the reader – do not exist as subjects; they are – just like the literary work – “functions” or “effects” of language.