Noam Chomsky is rightly regarded as one of the major figures in modern linguistics as the creator of generative grammar, which has transformed the discipline. He is best known to the public, however, as a political activist of anarchistic bent. Apparently, this transcript of "conversations" with French linguist Mitsou Ronat, previously published in France (1977), is intended to bridge these two aspects of Chomsky's prolific career, but the bridge turns out to be a very long one indeed. In the first part, Chomsky discusses the role of intellectuals in formulating and maintaining the dominance of a particular ideology, especially in the U.S. He denies that any special competence is required to intervene in questions of public policy and affairs, seeing all such claims for competence as hierarchically-based justifications for a pseudo-technocratic elite. Chomsky the political activist is therefore simply Chomsky the citizen, while Chomsky the linguist is Chomsky the value-free scientist, and he declines to see any significant connection between the two. In the second part, he discusses the trajectory of his scientific work over the past 25 years, outlining his theories of generative grammar, semantics, deep structure, etc., and offering interesting distinctions between his and related approaches. However, Chomsky's politically-rooted efforts at a critique of ideology lack the theoretical underpinnings of his "neutral" linguistic work, and the differences between Chomsky and Michel Foucault on this score are brought up by Ronat. The only connection between the two Chomskys—and it may be significant—is that his linguistics is part of an effort to establish a scientific basis for making assertions about human nature, and his political activity entails a vision of a future society redesigned to accord with that scientifically-established human nature. This is not an entirely comforting revelation. Although the sections on linguistics and the "human sciences" are rather technical, the juxtaposition of Chomsky's two personas is enlightening, even if no new light is shed on the two subjects themselves.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1978
ISBN: 0394736192
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1978
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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