tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post5976811344687326491..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: The paradoxical politics of creative writingD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-32725954930758307022011-05-16T18:31:43.313-04:002011-05-16T18:31:43.313-04:00Maybe progressivism is losing its grip a bit?
I wa...Maybe progressivism is losing its grip a bit?<br />I was surprised to see Andrew Ferguson's article in the Weekly Standard about David Mamet's speech two years ago at Stanford that (rightly) attacked the herd mentality prevalent in higher education. Mamet's talking about "The elaborate scheme to deprive young people of their freedom of thought… a tribe of people educated to see the world in the same way… and the faculty should be ashamed in participating in the swindle.." was pretty powerful stuff two years ago. It's pretty powerful stuff now. <br /><br />Naming it, "Converting Mamet" certainly gives it political overtones but I'm wondering what your opinion is about it, if reintroducing this speech now means there's an undercurrent, if not an early indication of a shift in the way universities are looking to the future?claves curiaehttp://carolhardick.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-87440107197470558862011-05-16T18:26:50.493-04:002011-05-16T18:26:50.493-04:00What a lot of weight Batuman puts on us poor write...What a lot of weight Batuman puts on us poor writers. Maybe you don't have to sit there pondering the whole socio-economic-cultural landscape, your place in it and how your fiction will fit in as well before you start or how you might best recontextualize history in this next chapter. God, talk about sucking the joy out of doing one small thing. You find an interesting phrase. You get off a good line. Those small sparks are enough to see your way another foot forward. You'd think any of us were doing something that mattered.Marsupialushttp://www.hollyridgepress.comnoreply@blogger.com