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Your comment is a good illustration of why people are abandoning the humanities. Universities have become utterly politicized. If I enrol in English Lit, that's
by atlantic 4y ago
Your comment is a good illustration of why people are abandoning the humanities. Universities have become utterly politicized. If I enrol in English Lit, that's what I want to learn about - not gender theory, or the class struggle.
- anonymouskimmer 4y agoOut of curiosity, what do you think people who write in the English language write about? Even if you plan on specializing in children's literature, you'll have a survey of all broad trends somewhere in your college courses.
- danaris 4y agoThis is a good example of why we must not abandon the humanities. It is, in fact, an illustration of Adams' point: that in times of great conflict and injustice, the finer things in life must be put aside to help fight to ensure liberty and justice for all. As long as people are oppressed because of their social class, gender expression, or any other innate aspect of their identity, it is our duty to, at the very least, try to understand that oppression, and stand up against it where we have the opportunity to do so. Those who turn a blind eye to it because it's oppression of people they don't think deserve consideration are complicit in that oppression.
- BenSahar 4y agoI’m sorry. Are you under the impression that literature has been apolitical until fairly recently?
- rocket_surgeron 4y agoCharles Dickens, a foundational pillar of of English Literature, was writing ceaselessly about class struggle well over century ago. Hamlet deals with class struggle. Jack and the fucking Beanstalk is, along with the vast majority of fables derived from oral history, about class struggle as are vast swaths of the Bible. The round table of King Arthur's court? Literally all of Robin Hood? Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? To Kill a Mockingbird? Someone is politicizing English literature and it ain't university professors. Gender studies is just "class stuggle from a gender perspective".
- lliamander 4y agoI don't think you are properly understanding the critique here. From personal experience I can tell you that English Lit in universities is mostly "deconstructing X" or "Marxist criticism of Y". It's all interpretation in light of contemporary political norms - and of a very narrow range of contemporary political thought at that. The idea of letting the stories reflect the realities of their times, or speak into our own, is just anathema. Heck, most of those authors have been "canceled" for wrong-think of some form or another (or just for being dead white men).
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago>It's all interpretation in light of contemporary political norms - and of a very narrow range of contemporary political thought at that. Unless you are in possession of a time machine, that is the only practical form of interpretation for an undergraduate English literature student. I did not fear the satanic panic of the 80s, I do not fear the marxist panic of today. I note that the panics seem to emanate from the same kind of person, separated by time. Also, neither feminists nor transgender folk scare me so discussing them in an academic setting is not likely to warp my delicate little brain.
- tonfreed 4y agoI have no problem with learning to analyse from that perspective, but if it's the only lens being taught then that's an issue. Why not learn how CS Lewis would have discussed his favourite works? Why avoid talking about Randian ideas except to criticise them? At this point, it's not education, it's indoctrination.
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago>Why avoid talking about Randian ideas except to criticise them? Oh. You're a cultist. Nevermind. Rand is as relevant as Time Cube.
- 4y ago