Grabar

[Paul Mackin]

On Fri, 2004-09-10 at 14:19, John M. Krafft wrote:
> I happened to catch your message on the list about scoundrels. I'd say a good
> half or more of Americans (voters and otherwise) probably are scoundrels, or
> else are pathetically eager to be deceived, but then I'm a cynic. Jonathan
> Swift (in A Tale of a Tub) divides people into fools and knaves, which is even
> more cynical.

It's important to say in this regard that the ease with a large
proportion of the American electorate (or any electorate) can be
manipulated has nothing to do with patriotism or scoundrelism. Has to do
with propaganda, lack of attention, and alas in all to many cases
ignorance.

> 
> But what I really wanted to say is, can you believe that Grabar wrote a
> dissertation called "Analogies between Nazi culture and American Culture"
> (2003) on Pynchon, Percy and DeLillo?

I can believe anything about the ill-uses Pynchon can be put to


. Don't we see it on the p-list everyday. Well, many days of the year.
On the other hand I don't see anything very strange about trying to
analyze how a novelist treats one culture in comparison with how he
treats another-- noting similarities or dissimilarities as he will. It's
still only fiction however. (of course a lot of nonfiction is also
fiction)

>  Only in light of this week's  propaganda
> piece might a reader of her dissertation's abstract suspect some skepticism or
> other reservation in her use of phrases like "Pynchon promotes the thesis" and
> "Percy likewise implies." So, did she betray her life-long patriotism in
> writing her dissertation just to get past a nasty committee of America-hating
> bullies, or has she recently betrayed her scholarly self for reasons I won't
> speculate about?

I can see a person shifting from scholarly and objective mode (more or
less scholarly and objective)  to polemical mode. Don't think it
necessarily implies a betrayal of anything. As I've said in previous
posts I don't think much of the politics of either Grabar or the popular
professor.

Good seeing John K active on the p-list.