Overheard an English teacher at the coffee shop today grading papers. She read off one of those passages that are extracted at gunpoint in English courses, the kind which typically go something like "gee i never thought of the fact that other people have different viewpoints and experiences and that we can learn a lot from them and gosh isn't it great now that i truly appreciate them..."
And she was so happy about this little falsified piece of junk, it was such things that made teaching English worth it for her, so she said. She seemed to be under the impression that this student was being sincere. Then I thought about it, and realized that she didn't think that at all--she was simply happy that she had managed to extract this token appreciation at gunpoint. She knew it for what it was. But of course she couldn't just say that either. So she had to lie about believing the student's lie. Lies on both ends is what this evil little game is all about.
Where are the thinkers, the revolutionaries, the free spirits in English departments these days? Didn't they used to be filled with war protesters and crazies and heads and nutcases? Why is everyone in the lie-buying and lie-selling business? Does anyone have anything new to say, or must we constantly revisit this tired, tired subject of diversity?
Diversity--a carcass left over by the tides that receded, now picked clean. A skeleton bleaching in the sun.
Posted by Alan at February 26, 2003 08:03 AM