It's a Battlefield Out There, Culturally Speaking byEdward Rothstein (FWD from NY Times)

alec ramsdell a_ramsdell at hotmail.com
Tue Dec 8 14:29:42 PST 1998


Carrol Cox wrote:

After all the recent flurry on Judith Butler I decided that I would reread
>her *Bodies That matter*, and the first 3 pages of the Preface
convinced me of two
>things: (a) Doug is correct that she makes one think, and several of
her
>statements in those 3 pages have helped me clarify some things in my
own mind. (b)
>She really is fundamentally wrong about almost everything, and when
she's correct,
>she is affirming a concealed and mostly trivial tautology.

Carrol,

I don't have a copy of _Bodies That Matter_ here, though later tonight I can refer to it. I've found some of the Butler I've read to be useful, some pretty thin. At times _Psychic Life of Power_ sounds a bit redundant, though on the whole I do find engaging her elaboration of the lines of thought in question (and her development of some of the themes in _Gender Trouble_, i.e. Melancholy Gender, discussing the performative and mourning). Can you elaborate on the "concealed and mostly trivial tautology"? What are you refering to?

-Alec

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