pynchon-l-digest V2 #3707, death of theory tangent

[Paul Mackin]

On Mon, 2004-01-05 at 08:39, autodidactionhero wrote:
> >Didn't Derrida recently also make some desperation pronouncement about
> >Theory. Or literary criticism.  Think it was him.
> 
> >P.
> 
> The new Critical Inquiry (30.2 2004) goes back and forth on the question at
> length--it's the "Future of Criticism" issue--and the angle of the symposium
> questions deal with this idea that criticism/theory is on the decline and
> has "backed off from its earlier sociopolitical engagements."  Derrida's not
> in it though.  The NY Times--the paper that ran the Eagleton interview? I
> can't remember--ran an epitaph on theory at the time of CI symposium.  Nice
> little blip on the cultural radar.  At least none of the panel participants
> had to get married in Vegas for some news coverage--
> 
> 
> Jason
> 
> 
> 

Thanks, Jason. I now remember the Derrida thing I was thinking of. My
question was very misstated. Doug had referred the p-list to a newspaper
piece about a statement written by Habermas against the Iraq War that
Derrida had agreed with and signed. The statement seemed quite
Eurocentric and Enlightenment-based to a lot of people. It was played up
as a retreat from postmodernism etc. etc.

Who's to say.

I'm sure Derrida has to deal with the same kinds of thoughts as Eagleton
does.

P.