A 'Bad Writer' Bites Back by Judith Butler)

[Carl Remick]

> >The object of the literary/cultural critic is not to enable people to
> >understand the periodic table or mathematical theorems; it 
> is (or should
> >be) to help people at large understand the rights and 
> responsibilities
> >that they have as social and political beings. 
> 
> LITERARY CRITICISM SHOULD DO THIS??!!??
> 
> Shit, and I thought it was about interpreting and critiquing works of
> literature.  Silly me.

Then you are disagreeing with Judith Butler, who puts her work in an
explicitly political context.

 
> A wise man once told me that hagiography is the flipside of 
> demonization.
>  Likewise, a religious faith in "the people" is just as bad 
> as feelings
> of contempt towards "the people."

To say I believe people have an innate sense of decency is not to say
that I believe that decency is typically on display.  Most often, it is
buried or distorted by a culture that insists fear and greed are the
only dependable driving forces of economic performance.  Literary and
cultural critics should help raise people's consciousness about the
destructive effect that fear and greed have on society as a whole and
individuals' own character; these critics should help people understand
that society doesn't have to be the way it is -- that it can be guided
by a sense of cooperation and compassion.

Carl Remick