One thing that caught my attention while reading “Thesis Eleven: The Alienation of Intellectuals and Intelligentsia” was when Goulder said, “According to Marx and Engels, then, some intellectuals are radicalized by their “contemplation” and theoretical comprehension of history”(Gouldner 58). I am curious to know what he means when he says theoretical comprehension of history. Does this mean that they form their political opinions based on how they perceive history? One thing that I am questioning is the statement, “to participate in the culture of critical discourse, then, is a political act”(Gouldner 59). Is it a political act because someone using culture of critical discourse means that they are considering themselves as part of the intellectuals who use culture of critical discourse as their language. I am confused on how a use of grammar would be tied to politics but the only thing I can think of is what I stated above. It makes sense that the essence of critical discourse is in its insistence on reflexivity because there is constantly changes in grammar and you have to adjust on the fly to how the language is being used in certain contexts and also to keep it exclusive because they want to make sure that people on the outside are not in the loop of the language. There is a good chance that information can be leaked every once in a while so they have to be ready for that and act accordingly.
Categories