How to Cite These Archived Letters
Dear Colleague Archive 1989
| Date of Letter | Topic Summary | ID |
|---|---|---|
| 1989-January-15 | "If the ideal of modernism is captured by the image of the Shining City, that of post-modernism may be said to be captured by the image of multitongued Babel." | 62 |
| 1989-February-01 | On learning languages: "Despite what foreigners may say, their attitude to Americans who go temporarily 'native' can be deeply ambivalent." | 63 |
| 1989-February-15 | "If one looks at a culture—any culture—with care, one soon discovers all sorts of alien influences. As the unpacking proceeds, one wonders whether the culture has any core that it can call its own." | 64 |
| 1989-March-01 | "Who will attend to 'that dread level of nothing but life itself'? Women used to." | 65 |
| 1989-March-15 | On common humanity: "...only after they have recognized something important which they all share...that they can then look upon each other's peculiarity with tolerance and indeed affection." | 66 |
| 1989-April-01 | "I am delighted that at UW we have instituted an Ethnic Studies course requirement for all undergraduates. Some narrowly motivated students may object, but the best students will not." | 67 |
| 1989-April-15 | "Having my ancestor [picture] up there on the wall did, I confess, give me a sense of self-identity. At the same time, it reminded me that I probably share that same ancestor with a million other human beings..." | 68 |
| 1989-May-01 | Regarding teaching, research, and work: "many jobs have a front stage and a back stage." | 69 |
| 1989-May-15 | On what is now known as the Tiananmen Square protests: "Chinese students marched in Beijing on May 4, 1989 to demand more democracy and freedom. The date has symbolic significance..." | 70 |
| 1989-September-01 | "It has often occurred to me how the unique problems of life that once afflicted only the very rich and powerful are now the burden of even the affluent middle-class." | 71 |
| 1989-September-15 | Of censorship changing over time: "I hope that the ethnic slur, driven underground, will not there fester to become a more intractable kind of ethnic prejudice—prejudice with a polite face." | 72 |
| 1989-October-01 | "Until modern times, just about every people known to ethnography and history believed themselves to be at the center of the world in all senses of the word: they were not ethnic but human." | 73 |
| 1989-October-15 | "...what if the Greeks were to go on and insist that other spiritual heritages of theirs be returned to them--for example, freedom and democracy? Should Americans repatriate their democratic institutions, or, at least, pay a hefty royalty to the Greeks for unauthorized adaptation and use?" | 74 |
| 1989-November-01 | "When I feel a little discouraged by teflon society I turn to history books. The past always succeeds in cheering me up by making the present look better." | 75 |
| 1989-November-15 | "When I travel I prefer to check into a motel rather than stay with a friend. I used to think the reason lies in fatigue...But I now think there is another reason." | 76 |
| 1989-December-01 | On Flaubert's irritation at the longevity of his works: "We ordinary writers don't have that problem. Almost always we outlive our creations." | 77 |
| 1989-December-15 | On Guy Willoughby and the Memorial Union. | 78 |
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