10/9/12 2:26 AMChomsky on Postmodern Theory « Ph.D. Octopus

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The postmodern condition explained

Ph.D. Octopus

by Nemo

Over at the American Intellectual History Blog, Andrew Hartman offers apositive assessment of François Cusset’s recent book French Theory: HowFoucault, Derrida, Deleuze, & Co. Transformed the Intellectual Life of theUnited States. I found the review pertinent because I’m putting together asyllabus for an introductory course on the “postmodern condition.” Whilepart of the class involves examining the difficulty of defining exactly whatthe postmodern condition entails, we will be exploring themes typically as-sociated with postmodernism. These include the social construction ofknowledge, the relationship between truth and power, and the deconstruc-tion of essentialist categories of identity. As one might expect, readings forthe class include works by Michel Foucault, Edward Said, and Judith Butler(among many others).

We’ll also be reading a number ofpostmodernism’s critics, which duringits academic height in the 1990s werelegion. While its conservative oppo-nents such as Allan Bloom probablygot the most media attention, it also at-tracted plenty of condemnation by in-tellectuals from across the politicalspectrum. As I was searching out suchcritics for the syllabus, I came acrossthis amazing 1995 list-serve post byNoam Chomsky. In it, he not only delivers a blistering attack on scholarssuch as Derrida, Kristeva and Lacan, but also on the American humanitiesestablishment more generally.

Now, clearly, this wasn’t the first time Chomsky attacked the American aca-

10/9/12 2:26 AMChomsky on Postmodern Theory « Ph.D. Octopus

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demic class. Perhaps his most famous essay, “The Responsibility ofIntellectuals,” published at the height of the Vietnam War in 1967, tore intoscholars whom he believed had abandoned their commitment to truth in fa-vor of service to the state. In the years since, he has frequently laced intomainstream academia for what he considers its political complacency andideological rigidity.

Unlike his more typical attacks on intellectual cheerleaders for Americanmilitarism, however, in the list-serve post Chomsky aims his rhetorical siteson the proponents of “postmodern theory.” Asked why he engaged so littlewith theorists such as Lyotard, Derrida, and Lacan, Chomsky responded:

I’ve dipped into what they write out of curiosity, but not very far:what I find is extremely pretentious, but on examination, a lot of itis simply illiterate, based on extraordinary misreading of texts that Iknow well (sometimes, that I have written), argument that is ap-palling in its casual lack of elementary self-criticism, lots of state-ments that are trivial (though dressed up in complicated verbiage)or false; and a good deal of plain gibberish.

Unlike postmodernism’s critics on the right, however, Chomsky doesn’t stopthere. He goes on to argue that these theorists, far from being the dangerousradicals of the conservative imagination, are actually apolitical charlatansdoing nothing to advance the cause of social justice. In a move that doesecho the populist stance one more often associates with conservatives,though, Chomsky argues that most working-class Americans have an easiertime understanding what’s wrong with the country than do many out-of-touch humanities professors. Discussing the challenges of explaining hisviews to different audiences, he notes:

I’ve never found that a problem [providing alternative frames ofreference] when I speak to people lacking much or sometimes anyformal education, though it’s true that it tends to become harder asyou move up the educational ladder, so that indoctrination is much

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This is how I took notes for comprehensive exams

deeper, and the self-selection for obedience that is a good part ofelite education has taken its toll.

Of course, Chomsky’s beef with manypost-modern thinkers goes beyondtheir sometime incomprehensible lan-guage and their questionable scholarlyrigor, but instead goes into deeper con-flicts over questions such as basic un-derstandings of the human condition.Chomsky’s admiration for the princi-ples of the enlightenment and his beliefin a universal human nature put him atodds with some of post-modernism’s main currents. These disagreementsare at the heart of his famous debate with Foucault in which the two dis-agree over the possibility of universal foundations for a just society (in thelist-serve attack on postmodern theory, Chomsky makes some—but not toomany—exceptions for Foucault’s work).

Personally, I’m sympathetic with much of Chomsky’s critique. Particularlythe writers he refers too. On the other hand, I’m willing to be convinced thatI’m just not familiar enough with their work. I do think, however, that peo-ple like Foucault, Butler, and Said (and Chomsky would certainly agree withme on the latter) have actually developed a number of insights not onlyworth considering for their own sake, but that are necessary sources of wis-dom for any movement that claims to advocate for social justice—but that’sthe subject of another blog post.

For now, I encourage you to read Chomsky’s blast. I’m curious to hear whatpeople think, especially those more familiar with Kristeva, Lacan, etc.

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