The Rise of Reassurance Lit
Academe is awash in refrains about its own importance. Is anyone feeling better yet?
"To say that the humanities are in the throes of a collective depression would be cheap psychology. But I question whether it is advisable for any profession, even one that feels itself oppositional and endangered, to fortify itself with a torrent of self-love.
The best arguments on behalf of the humanities articulate ideals that allow us to measure our own efforts at teaching and research in relation to a set of standards. Reassurance lit, by contrast, is indiscriminate, assuring each of us of our value, often in grandiose terms."
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