In the May/June 1996 issue of "Lingua Franca" (vol. 6. #4, pp.30-37.)
appears an article by Rick Perlstein entitled **Who Owns the Sixties? The
Opening of a Scholarly Generation Gap**
Those of you who regularly "teach" the era in a course probably ought to be
aware of the article. Some it will infuriate, some placate, some will nod
off, but it will be usable as a heuristic in undergraduate courses. And, in
it, is mentioned one of our very own listers - Peter Braunstein. Those of
you who attended the last Vietnam Generation/Sixties Conference in
Connecticut will recogize references to Peter's concept of "possessive
memory" which he fleshed out in his paper to the conference.
The article also discusses counterculture revisionism.
In this same issue of LF is a piece by Alan Sokal who is the physicist who
sent a parody essay to the catatonically hip postmodern journal "Social
Text" claiming to support the concept that physical reality (as in the laws
of physics) is actually a social and linguistic construct! The spoof essay
is quite wonderful in its vocabulary. The journal published the essay as
the centerpiece for an entire issue devoted to SCIENCE WARS. If
mortification can be delicious, you can get the taste in this exchange.
John Baky
John S. Baky
Director of Libraries
Connelly Library
La Salle University
1900 W. Olney Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19141
Phone: (215) - 951-1285 or 1286
Fax : (215) 951-1595
e-mail Baky@alpha.aca.edu