Friday, April 03, 2009

Reading criticism irreverently

When I'm reading a sentence like "My project is to stage an intervention into X," my first thought is "Why? Does it have a drug problem?"

(With apologies to profgrrrl for stealing her blog title.)

8 comments:

CarlD said...

Ha. Mine is "Awesome, another parlor anarchist," or perhaps "Umpteen years of school and you still haven't figured out a more elegant opening than 'My project is'?"

Unknown said...

Don't forget the interrogations.

Also, exploring "contested sites."

undine said...

Carl, I think it's the umpteen years of schooling that teaches people to say things like "My project is." No one without this could think up such a self-important phrase.

Miriam, I think there's a pattern here: the more peaceful the discipline, the more bellicose the vocabulary.

CarlD said...

"the more peaceful the discipline, the more bellicose the vocabulary."

NICE. Since the peacefulness and the bellicosity are both easy poses in the absence of responsible power, is there a way to tell which is real?

Ink said...

This post and the comments made me laugh and laugh. Thank goodness for the academic blogs.

Ink said...

Which reminds me: I have been planning to write a post about this, but in the meantime, you might enjoy a look if you haven't seen it. :)

undine said...

Thanks, Carl. It's hard to tell what's at stake and what's real; it doesn't seem to be any kind of unitary truth, but maybe just the best interpretation?

Ink, I hadn't seen the PoMo Generator--thanks. I'm looking forward to your post on it.

CarlD said...

Don't miss the Adolescent Poetry Generator at the same site.