Why Literature Matters

joanna bujes joanna.bujes at ebay.sun.com
Wed May 9 10:24:05 PDT 2001


At 11:59 AM 05/09/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Not even the other branches of the humanities--not
>philosophy, history, or the arts, and certainly not the social
>sciences--have been able to preserve this integrating vision, this
>universalizing discourse.

Except maybe for the fact that literature uses words, specifically, the eloquent vernacular, I see no reason to elevate its vision above that of the other arts.

More than that, an art that does not concern itself on some level with truth and justice has no special or integrative vision. Think about the Disney media machine: it generates literature: films need scripts; but it is an instrument of cultural subjugation not liberation.

I have not read the article fully -- but there's a great deal of self-serving whine in what I have read this far. Yes, now that the whole world is free and at the mercy of the free market, there is little need to appease intellectuals and artists and they are certainly getting the short end these days. Hence, I expect, this impassioned defense of Losa's vocation.

In general, I find the often drawn dichtomy between arts and the sciences to do a disservice to both and to our general understanding of reality.

Joanna



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list