tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post959687038021434582..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: The De Man Affair Part Deux?Cord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-4381537558022602022007-04-15T10:58:00.000-04:002007-04-15T10:58:00.000-04:00I think it's important to point out, though, vis-a...I think it's important to point out, though, vis-a-vis Michael O.'s question about whether or not one reaction to this news about Bauman will be to say that it is one further piece of evidence that postmodernism is complicit with evil, that Bauman's postmodernism was not very postmodern, in some respects: it was more communitarian and deeply ethical in a Levinasian manner. It was through Bauman's "Postmodern Ethics" that I first discovered Levinas, actually, over ten years ago. I think Bauman's "Liquid Modernity" is a work of genius, and it is, in some respects, a kind of ethical "check" on postmodern thought/socio-historical realities of the twentieth century. Maybe all of the apparently indefatigable writing that Bauman undertook, especially after he retired, was some kind of attempt at self-expiation? Who knows. I agree with Karl, though, that, ultimately, the work has to have some kind of value apart from the person who produced it. But writers are not automatons, either, nor can "the work" really "live" completely separately from its author; at least, I don't think so, especially when you consider the moralizing tone of much of Bauman's work.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-51556712646080228412007-04-15T10:52:00.000-04:002007-04-15T10:52:00.000-04:00The readers of this blog don't know this because, ...The readers of this blog don't know this because, for whatever reason, I have never written about Bauman on this blog, but he happens to be part of a kind of triumvirate of scholars I invoke/quote/write about the most in my own scholarship [Levinas/Bauman/Certeau]. I'm so devastated by this news I hardly know what to think. I will now commence to think about it. What will Bauman himself say, I wonder? He is still alive, recently retired from Leeds [I believe], and living in Leeds, right? This is terrible news.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-56322388386166706142007-04-14T18:57:00.000-04:002007-04-14T18:57:00.000-04:00Michael,Are you perhaps in danger of becoming an a...Michael,<BR/><BR/>Are you perhaps in danger of becoming an apologist for an apologist here?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-22790786533121815332007-04-14T16:49:00.000-04:002007-04-14T16:49:00.000-04:00Of course I am asking for the third way (like what...Of course I am asking for the third way (like what Ronell does with Heidegger and Derrida does with De Man) but is it very likely that the popular press and conservative academics will opt for it? I really don't think so.<BR/><BR/>A word about the Derrida incident. He was apparently very ill and in the throes of chemotherapy when Kujundzic importuned him to write to Irvine on his behalf.Michael O'Rourkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03110210128389911666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-3054851710441718092007-04-14T16:27:00.000-04:002007-04-14T16:27:00.000-04:00the title "postmodernism made me do it" is indicat...<I>the title "postmodernism made me do it" is indicative of the two potential sides</I><BR/><BR/>There's a third side, isn't there: can't we disarticulate the work and its value from the person? Since no thought system is entirely populated by angels or devils, I'm sure even a few of the fascists--to look at the other side--were guilty of peacibility from time to time. <BR/><BR/>Should I mention <A HREF="http://oubliesurlacarte.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/the-derrida-incident/" REL="nofollow">the Derrida thing</A> here?Karl Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03353370018006849747noreply@blogger.com