Thoughts on the current state of humanities education
too many espressos for me this morning I think ...
So, teach your undergrads ottava rima
Or drag them through "Of Grammatology"
Shit, make them rap the Shorter Latin Primer
If you think that will help, but don't blame me
When you still get called "hippy" by old-timers
And students just watch Zizek on TV
Dear English Profs; the best that I can say
Is please yourselves, they'll fuck you either way
What's "Of Grammatology" other than a book by Derrida?
ReplyDeleteNo, I meant the book. Also note the fact that "rima" shouldn't really rhyme with "primer" - this is of course a homage to Byron's "Don Juan" ("a hero and a true one"), which is probly the most famous example of ottava rima.
ReplyDeleteOrlando wouldn't be so mad about the idea of Don Juan being more famous than he. Or are we talking just in the Anglo ghetto?
ReplyDeleteTouche, I suppose (pronounced "touch")
ReplyDeleteBut that's the ur-text for deconstruction, or is that the joke?
ReplyDeleteYes, the idea was that humanities teachers can't win - whether they go down the classics and Anglo-Saxon route or the French theory route, there's always somebody going to be having a go at them for irrelevance, trendiness or both simultaneously, so they might as well please themselves.
ReplyDeletereminds me of Larkin. Going, going ...
ReplyDelete