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THE EMPLOYMENT OF ENGLISH
CULTURAL FRONT
GENERAL EDITOR: MICHAEL BEŔUBÉ
MANIFESTO OF A TENURED RADICAL BY GARY NELSON
BAD SUBJECTS: POLITICAL EDUCATION FOR EVERYDAY LIFE EDITED BY THE BAD SUBJECTS PRODUCTION TEAM
CLAIMING DISABILITY: KNOWLEDGE AND IDENTITY BY SIMI LINTON
THE EMPLOYMENT OF ENGLISH: THEORY, JOBS, AND THE FUTURE OF LITERARY STUDIES BY MICHAEL BEŔUBÉ
THE EMPLOYMENT OF ENGLISH
THEORY, JOBS, AND THE FUTURE OF LITERARY STUDIES
MICHAEL BÉRUBÉ
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
© 1998 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bérubé, Michael, 1961–
The employment of English : theory, jobs, and the future of
literary studies / by Michael Bérubé.
p. cm.—(Cultural front)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-1300-9 (pbk. : acid-free paper).—ISBN
0-8147-1301-7 (pbk.: acid-free paper)
1. English philology—Study and teaching (Higher)—Political
aspects—UnitedStates. 2. English literature—History and
criticism—Theory, etc. 3. English language—Political aspects—
United States. 4. English teachers—Employment—United States.
5. Interdisciplinary approach in education. 6. English philology—
Vocational guidance. 7. Languageand culture—United States.
I. Title. II. Series: Cultural front (Series)
PE68.U5B481988
820′.71′173—dc21 97-21213
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
I EMPLOYMENT IN ENGLISH
1. CULTURAL STUDIES AND CULTURALCAPITAL
3. PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND ACADEMIC STANDARDS
4. PEER PRESSURE POLITICAL TENSIONS IN THE BEAR MARKET
5. STRAIGHT OUTTA NORMAL NONPROFIT FICTION PUBLISHING ON THE MARGINS
II EMPLOYING ENGLISH
7. PROFESSIONAL ADVOCATES WHEN IS “ADVOCACY” PART OF ONE’S VOCATION?
8. FREE SPEECH AND DISCIPLINE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MULTIVERSITY Michael Bérubé and Janet Lyon
9. EXTREME PREJUDICE THE COARSENING OF AMERICAN CONSERVATISM
10. CULTURAL CRITICISM AND THE POLITICS OF SELLING OUT
PREFACE
I love literature. I really do. And however much it might shock my colleagues, I believe that some books are better than others, too. Yet this belief of mine complicates my love: I like some books and some writers a great deal, whereas there are other books and other writers I do’t care for at all. So now that I think of it, I guess it makes about as much sense to say “I love literature” as to say “I’m fond of food.” It looks as if I’m going to have to start this preface all over again, this time from a coherent premise.
Then again, perhaps the incoherence of the premise should be my premise: how has it come to pass that in the profession of academic literary study, professors of English can publicly profess their love of “literature” (all of it, presumably) as if they were saying something meaningful? And loving literature as they do, renowned critics renounce criticism: some complain that academic criticism is too esoteric; some complain that contemporary academic criticism is too politicized; some complain that any kind of criticism inevitably positions itself as “superior” to its object, and is suspect on that basis alone. English departments throw themselves (and the very nation) into turmoil over whether to introduce a required “theory” course for graduate students—or whether to jettison the Chaucer-Milton-Shakespeare requirement for undergraduates. Conferences, colloquia, careers are devoted to asking whether literary criticism can have any productive political role in the world; conferences, colloquia, careers are devoted to asking whether literary criticism loves literature. Traditional