File spoon-archives/bourdieu.archive/bourdieu_1996/96-07-02.141, message 180


Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:15:50 -0500
From: Yves Gingras <Gingras.yves-AT-uqam.ca>
Subject: Re: Ethnocentrisms



Concerning all the fuss about the point of view expressed by ONE person on
the list that only English should be used, I would like to mention that
Bourdieu has a nice paper IN FRENCH!! called "Deux imperialismes de
l'universel" which makes an analysis of the way Americans and French see
their culture as universal, insisting of course on the socially constructed
nature of these universalisms in conflict.
That being said I of course agree that it is inapprorpiate (not to say
absurd) to try to prohibit a language on this list.

One could also note that the ignorance of foreign languages in the US
academic scene is not without effects: they often "discover"  French
authors decades after they have been debated in France (and in Quebec!) and
mix together very different scholars under a unique umbrella --like
"postmodernim". A better knowledge of French would I think prevent many
american scolars writing very superficial analysis of French thinkers,
based only on the  part of their work available in English, thus ignoring
his/her WHOLE oeuvre.One could of course reverse the direction of the
argument and apply it to many French thinkers...
But enough about this event..


Yves Gingras
Departement d'histoire
UQAM
Montreal, Quebec




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