"Nuance" Is Now a Naughty Word

[cbertsch]

Saying I'm going to blog about something is the surest way for me not to blog about it. But I'm breaking with precedent here. Walking back from Starbucks with Greg and Eric today, our earlier conversation about the mean-spiritedness with which even the "liberal" media was reporting on Jacques Derrida's death merged with our daily assessment of the pre-Election Day political landscape.

With the help of my interlocutors, I came up with the perfect nickname for W's opponent: Jack Kerrida. After all, both the Senator from Massachusetts and the philosopher from the Seine have been derided again and again for not staying "on point," for being distracted by details, not to mention for being excessively "French". It says a lot about the latest incarnation of American anti-intellectualism that it can make these men with almost nothing in common seem like they were cut from the same abstruse cloth. Here's to refusing to make hard things seem simple.

Comments

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

I just did an online search to look for articles about Derrida's death because I wanted to compare the coverage Christopher Reeves' passing recieved. Could you point me in the direction of some of the better-written articles? And also the sort you mentioned, because I'm in the mood to feel sorry for the state of the world in general and the humanities in particular.

[cbertsch.livejournal.com]

I'm on a different computer, without my "history". But all you have to do is search creatively within Google News. The Derrida comes up no problem. For the Kerry, you need to include another keyword or two.

Happy hunting!

[ex-synecdoch550.livejournal.com]

I was surprised at the odd article I read about Derrida's passing. Anti-intellectualism is an odd beast-- I have Hofstadter's Anti-intellectualism in American Life on my "to read" shelf, and hopefully it will be illuminating. :)

[cbertsch.livejournal.com]

When you realize that Emerson and Thoreau played a big role in reinforcing anti-intellectual trends in American society, the picture gets much more complicated.