Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 13:02 EST
From: Sangeeta_RAY-AT-umail.umd.edu (sr42)
Subject: spivak and correct english


Well, if everyone's post was well written, not garbled, with no spelling
errors or typos or grammatical errors we might as well stop all the hasty
postings and write well informed essays.

One of the advantages of the net is that one can jot down stuff quickly and
send it off. I am a poor typist and I often have typos even though I have a
pretty good command of the English language.

Also its amazing how one overlooks all of the snottiness that passes for
evaluation in one post and then chews another person's head off for daring
to use a bit of sarcasm.

Indeed if Wolf Factory can claim with such piousness and pride to rewrite what
he/she deems to be opaque prose with great clarity  a certain amount of
sarcasm on a respondents part is really not out of line. Atleast Liz signs
her name to a post!!

As for pitching Harris against Spivak--what was the point--Oh! Spivak you
are so obscure so you cannot ask someone else for clarity. I do think
interrupting a speaker while he/she is giving a talk cannot be condoned
(absolutely rude and nasty)--but asking for clarity should not be in question.

As much as i like many aspects of Spivak's work I am not going to support
her no matter what--if she is rude etc than point that out--but personality
and writing are two different things -- and by the way cathexis permeates
Freud's prose--did someone ask him not to use it!!


And I don't think rudeness is owned by any one critic--I have been to many
talks by many people and nastiness is part of some performative ritual that
I choose not to participate in and so can others but its not a spivak
phenomenon

and what about her sense of humor--she can be objectionable definitely, but
she also has a great sense of humor and is very witty. lately she rarely
begins a talk without calling attention to her reputation as an opaque bad
writer. She can and does make fun of herself, is quite generous to other
people on her panels but somehow her demonization is so complete that
everything else gets lost!

I wonder if its tied to gender--Butler has a similar reputation--Men get to
be Bad Boys and triumph and women who are bad girls get viciously attacked.

Maybe I am generalizing too much but it does seem to be the case both on this
list and elsewhere.


And on another note talking about obscure hard to read prose--has anyone
tried reading Levinas (which I am currently doing). Its  maddeningly dense
and would anyone care to venture a rewriting with clarity on Levinas!!! Or
is he a philosopher and hence not to be taken!!

Sangeeta



Sangeeta RAY
Associate Professor
Dept. of English
Univ. of Maryland
College Park MD 20740
Email:Sangeeta_RAY-AT-umail.umd.edu (sr42)
Phone: 301-405-3837


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