>Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:51:21 -0500 >From: "J. A. Madrigal" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: { SPAM 1 }:Fwd Isaac Benabu: Re: Fwd: Jose Antonio Madrigal to Frank > Dominguez : Re: Literatura y l >To: [log in to unmask], "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]> > >Issac, I totally agree with you. if you look at our Masters program at >Auburn and, specifically at the reading list and comprehensive exams (no >choice), you will know that we do it the old way without ignoring the >new. Let's continue the conversation...Tony > >*********************************************** > J. A. Madrigal > Castanoli Professor > Dpt. of Foreign Languages > and Literatures > Auburn University, AL 36849-5204 > Fax: 334-844-6378 > Phone: 334-844-5183 >*********************************************** > > > >>> "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]> 13/04/2007 15:56 >>> > > >Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:09:25 +0200 > >From: Isaac Benabu <[log in to unmask]> > >Subject: Re: Fwd: José Antonio Madrigal to Frank > > Domínguez : Re: Literatura y los > > programas académicos > >To: "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask] > > > >Tony: I agree with the flow of your thoughts > >about the changes that have taken place in our > >chosen field of study , yet when you express > >relief at the idea of retirement from the > >aridness (my word) which has come to > >characterize the teaching of literature, I wish > >to disagree with you, and say that the > >responsibility for what has happened during our > >term of academic service is ours and, > >consequently, it is up to us to pass on our > >understanding of what happened to the next > >generation. Whatever it was that turned the > >study of literature into something "other" is > >still within our memorial reach: for those > >entering the profession today it is a past to be recovered. > > > >Two values (however unfashionable!) which the > >creation of great literature and the teaching > >of the humanities  have in common are clarity > >of thought and precision in written expression: > >they both strive to communicate. Together with > >the "author", these values have gone out of the > >window. Instead, they have been replaced by > >jargon (which undoubtedly conceals thought), and > >by approximation rather than precision when it > >comes to meaning. It is our generation that saw > >a non-sense article (so described by its > >imaginative author) submitted to a pretigious > >literary review, passed by two readers and > >published. And we may have even enjoyed that > >author's subsequent confession in Time magazine > >that what he had submitted was "macaronic" non-sense. > > > >If we, who stimulated the growth of that > >jargon, proved incapable of explaining in > >major conferences such as the MLA why we had to > >resort to jargon rather than clear, scientific > >prose, what can we expect from the students we > >educated? Those very Ph.d.'s applying for jobs > >today to whom you refer and whom, you say, > >display an ignorance of the very texts which > >make up the subject they purportedly have > >applied to teach, grew up in classrooms where > >thinking was abandoned in favour of ideological > >posturing, and where repetition was more > >important than the formulation of original > >thinking. The fashionable industry of the study > >of literaure took over from the more modest > >explication of literature. A lack of > >self-confidence in what we were doing, don't you think? > > > >Late it may be, but never too late! That is why > >in our retirement, we may address these issues > >for the next generation rather than having them discover them for >themselves. > > > >Finally, I apologize if I have repeated ideas > >already expressed by others before me, without > >attribution, but I have just keyed into this discussion this >morning. > > > >An inflamatory afterthought on re-reading your > >piece: Your "Golden Age" breaks down into the > >study of literature (i.e. prose, and includes > >written poetry), oral literature and theatre. > >Theatre is distinguishable from literature , as > >Aristotle cared to point out early on, yet for > >the most part, we continue to approach it as > >literature, with tools devised for the analysis > >of literature. And even when we show > >willingness to refer to "performance", it may be > >because the word has been given a new coinage > >in contemporary scholarly jargon: > >traditionally (primarily, perhaps) the word > >was applied to theatre and theatrical > >representations, when it was not used in the > >more general sense of "to do, carry out". > > > >But that is a matter for another discussion... > > > >Isaac   > > > >Professor I. Benabu, > >Dept. of Theatre Studies, > >The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, > >Mt. Scopus, > >Jerusalem > >Tel.:(+972-2)5883940 > >------ > >WebMail: [log in to unmask] > > > > Prof. A. Robert Lauer The University of Oklahoma Dept. of Modern Langs., Lits., & Ling. 780 Van Vleet Oval, Kaufman Hall, Room 206 Norman, Oklahoma 73019-2032, USA Tel.: 405-325-5845 (office); 405/325-6181 (OU dept.); Fax: 1-866-602-2679 (private) Vision: Harmonious collaboration in an international world. Mission: "Visualize clearly and communicate promptly" <http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/vita.html>VITA / <http://www.peterlang.com/all/>IBÉRICA /<http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/AITENSO.html>AITENSO / <http://www.ou.edu/bcom/>BCom / <http://www.comedias.org/>AHCT / <http://www.mla.org/>MLA / <http://www.ou.edu/cervantes/coloquiocervantes.html>Coloquio <http://www.ou.edu/cervantes/coloquiocervantes.html>Cervantes / <http://www.ou.edu/teatro/coloquioteatro.html>Coloquio Teatro de los Siglos de Oro