November 16, 2001

The Two Cultures Again: Tilting Against Objectivity

By MARK BAUERLEIN

Humanities professors like to declare themselves. In broaching scholarly issues, they often proceed with "This is who I am and what I do" statements. The usage is particularly common in academic exchanges, when the pressure to justify one's standpoint becomes acute.

An essay in the journal American Literary History opens, "As a scholar-in-residence in the 19th and 20th centuries, I am deeply struck ..." The PMLA Forum section is filled with similar identifications, including, "As a

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