The State of the Language
I have been teaching a graduate English class modeled on law school "Law and Literature" courses this summer. It has been awhile since I've read any literary criticism and I have to say... the English language has been and is in real trouble. I knew lawyers and judges as well as politicians were able to twist the language and distort words such as "is", "person", and "privacy", but ay caramba! Lawyers have nothing on Stanley Fish, et al. regarding the distortion and fabrication of meanings and intentions.
Between feminist critique, queer theory, and deconstruction it's no wonder reading literature is as fun as eating dry toast. If one doesn't get a political message (or whatever the queer theorists get out of anything!) then the reader is a comlete simpleton. Beyond that the reader of poetry or a novel can feel free to make up his own interpretation -- after all the reader participtes in the authoring of the work according to some of these dolts. It's a new work every time it's read. Making an "A" in English must have never been easier. How can a professor question little Johnny's reading of Ode on a Grecian Urn?
The dangers inherent in this elite language cartel populated by elite literature professors is the same as that inherent in the admittedly larger cabal of law professors and elites who not only delight in, but advocate the destruction (I should say deconstruction) of our language. Namely, the hoi polloi, many of whom already lack the necessary time, skills, or access to the halls of power, will find themselves pushed even further out.
Law has almost always been the domain of a relatively select few, and literacy has not been widespread either. Limiting access to the stories that inform us about our virtues and vices as well as the narratives of our various neighbors is dangerous to liberty and stability. Shakespeare is not limited to the domain of the English major or even worse, the English Ph.D. The sorry state of state-funded education (with much parental blame) dovetails nicely with the elite literary critic's seeming desire to close access to the world that literature opens up to all of us -- at least those of us who can read..
Between feminist critique, queer theory, and deconstruction it's no wonder reading literature is as fun as eating dry toast. If one doesn't get a political message (or whatever the queer theorists get out of anything!) then the reader is a comlete simpleton. Beyond that the reader of poetry or a novel can feel free to make up his own interpretation -- after all the reader participtes in the authoring of the work according to some of these dolts. It's a new work every time it's read. Making an "A" in English must have never been easier. How can a professor question little Johnny's reading of Ode on a Grecian Urn?
The dangers inherent in this elite language cartel populated by elite literature professors is the same as that inherent in the admittedly larger cabal of law professors and elites who not only delight in, but advocate the destruction (I should say deconstruction) of our language. Namely, the hoi polloi, many of whom already lack the necessary time, skills, or access to the halls of power, will find themselves pushed even further out.
Law has almost always been the domain of a relatively select few, and literacy has not been widespread either. Limiting access to the stories that inform us about our virtues and vices as well as the narratives of our various neighbors is dangerous to liberty and stability. Shakespeare is not limited to the domain of the English major or even worse, the English Ph.D. The sorry state of state-funded education (with much parental blame) dovetails nicely with the elite literary critic's seeming desire to close access to the world that literature opens up to all of us -- at least those of us who can read..
posted by Troy at 6:05 PM
.bmp)
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