{"id":7,"date":"2013-01-27T18:37:25","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T18:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiogenicallystable.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca\/?p=7"},"modified":"2013-01-27T18:37:25","modified_gmt":"2013-01-27T18:37:25","slug":"poisonous-academics-and-their-claptrap-of-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/radiogenicallystable\/2013\/01\/27\/poisonous-academics-and-their-claptrap-of-exclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Poisonous academics and their claptrap of exclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

I first came across this article after reading The Age of the Warrior<\/em> by Robert Fisk, my favourite journalist stationed in Beirut, Lebanon. This book is full of highly opinionated readings concerning both domestic and international politics in the Middle East. Anyone interested in the modern political or historical situation of this region should definitely pick up this book.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m posting this blog in lieu of the discussion we had this past week, about coded academic language relative to public discourse. In his article titled \u2018Poisonous Academics and Their Claptrap of Exclusion\u2019 he speaks about academic jargon as a means to marginalize the public from social scientific writing. Singling out anthropology specifically, while attending a lecture, he writes:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 all very fascinating. But once questions were invited from the floor, Gilsenan was asked about \u2018matrilineal\u2019 issues in colonial Singapore. I closed my eyes. \u2018Matrilineal\u2019 doesn\u2019t exist in my dictionary. Nor is it likely to. It is part of a secret language of academe \u2013 especially of anthropology \u2013 and it is a turn-off. We poor dunces should keep our noses out of this high-falutin\u2019 stuff. That, I think, is the message. I recall a student raging to me about her anthropology professor who constantly used words like \u2018emic\u2019 and \u2018etic\u2019 \u2013 to this day, I have no idea what they mean; readers are invited to reply \u2013 in an attempt to mystify her discipline.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He concludes this article by asserting that public intellectuals refrain from using coded, conceptual language. In the last paragraph of this article, he states:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not saying that all teachers speak like this. There is no secret language in the work of Edward Said or Avi Shlaim or Martin Gilbert or Noam Chomsky (* the latter of which I disagree with to some extent *). But it\u2019s growing and it\u2019s getting worse, and I suspect only students can now rebel against it. The merest hint of \u2018emics\u2019 and \u2018constructs\u2019 or \u2018hermeneutic possibilities\u2019 and they should walk out of class, shouting Winston Churchill\u2019s famous retort: This is English up with which I will not put.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Although I have my reservations about his analysis, I do think he has some important points about how we conceptualize and code our writing, if only to be understood by a select few. I\u2019m not saying that words like \u2018emic\u2019 or \u2018etic\u2019 should be removed from the theoretical cannons of cultural anthropology, I\u2019m only concerned with how the public engages with our writing. If this is indeed the how the public views our language and style, then perhaps when communicating our findings to a greater audience we should be keep these things in mind. Your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first came across this article after reading The Age of the Warrior by Robert Fisk, my favourite journalist stationed in Beirut, Lebanon. This book is full of highly opinionated readings concerning both domestic and international politics in the Middle … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPoisonous academics and their claptrap of exclusion - Writing the Field: Anthropology 703<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/radiogenicallystable\/2013\/01\/27\/poisonous-academics-and-their-claptrap-of-exclusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poisonous academics and their claptrap of exclusion - Writing the Field: Anthropology 703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I first came across this article after reading The Age of the Warrior by Robert Fisk, my favourite journalist stationed in Beirut, Lebanon. 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