To the editors:
It is true that opinions like the ones Kovacevich mentions ("As a member of X ethnic group, I think..."), when accepted dogmatically by professors and fellow students, halt conversation to the point of complete silence. But there is no reason why it should be this way: if they are nothing more than prejudices, they should collapse, or at least be uncovered, when rigorously tackled. To criticize professors of not tackling them is one thing; to criticize students for voicing such opinions is unacceptable censorship.
Despite what Kovacevich (or John Stuart Mill, for that matter) may believe, cultural background unavoidably skews the development of our mind. But ideally, there should be no trade-off between cultural background and independent thinking. The ideas expressed in the editorial, properly distorted, have been used to silence outside criticism and impose one culture's norms on others under the guise of universal logic. Knowing that this statement will annoy Kovacevich, I must say that, as an international student, I have often felt this pressure.
Conclusively, it is good to challenge "identity" aphorisms, but to reject them as inherently narrow-minded is monolithic in itself.
Evan G. Liaras '00
March 16, 1999
Read more in Opinion
Absentee LandlordsRecommended Articles
-
Greenblatt Accepts TenureClinching what Reid Professor of English Philip J. Fisher called "the single most important appointment in literature at Harvard in
-
Shakespeare in Love with a ManIn the chase for audience approval and Oscar nods, screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard could not have custom tailored
-
Taymor's Tricky Titus a TriumphThe audience members leaving a typical screening of Titus, avant-garde stage director Julie Taymor's new film adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus
-
Bloom, the Bard, Acts Out FalstaffSimply put, Harold Bloom is Falstaff. Or at least he was last night. In a concert reading held at Zero
-
Different Experiences Necessarily Inform DebateTo the editors: As a student interested in intellectual growth and academic dialogue, I am particularly disheartened by Adam Kovacevich's
-
'Shakespeare' Screenplay Cut Corners for ConvenienceThe editors: Jordana R. Lewis makes a couple of mistakes in her article "Shakespeare in Love with a Man" (Opinion,
