Sunday, May 2, 2010

The Ruins of Analysis

Though the University of Ruins is an excellent book, with interesting ideas, reviews and analyses, it does share the annoying feature with many learned books of lacking accuracy on many levels. In the chapter that argues that literary culture (and the canon in particular) are not at the core anymore of the nation state (while literary culture was at the core of the definition of the anglosaxon University within the nation state), we find more examples than we can discuss. Let's give a few.

"I am merely noting that the possibility of Hirsch's fixed list of facts represents the replacement of a highly suspect organicist notion of culture by a set of information, exactly the mechanical or technological specter of mere lifeless facts against which the idea of culture was supposed to protect." It is difficult to enumerate even all the aspects of this one phrase that are bothersome. One is that it argues with an idea of culture that is not defended by the author. Another is that it ignores that one can make arbitrary choices for a literary curriculum, and live with it. Another is that a particular and temporary choice of a curriculum would be lifeless. Another is that technology is lifeless, in contrast to literature. And so on.

We find on the same page: "By contrast, the administration of knowledge means nothing more than that it is helpful to future employers for students to know a very few things, although the development of information technology makes the number of those things ever smaller." One can forcefully argue against a functional approach to university education, and I would. But one cannot do in the above way. It is wrong to claim that employers want students to know very few things. It is wrong to claim that information technology makes the number of things that students need to know smaller. The argument is ridiculous.

The examples abound. Though the book is correct on many very important issues, it lacks any standard of critical analysis. I am making this point since this problem is annoyingly widespread.