“The ivory tower has revolutionaries galor, proposing instant solutions by the second, sitting pretty before beer bottles.”
—from Femi Oje-Ade's “Of Culture, Commitment, and Construction”
TRANSITION 53: Table of Contents
POSITION____________________
Of Culture, Commitment, and Construction: Reflections
on African Literature
You claim to be the voice of the voiceless only to
hear the shrill cries of the voiceless telling you
to shut up. But such--at least according to this Nigerian
novelist and critic--are the pleasures and pains of
being an African writer today. Femi Ojo-Ade
UNDER REVIEW____________________
Where Liberalism Stands
Anita Allen analyzes the feud between old-fashioned
legal liberals and a newer breed of legal leftists:
and wishes a pax on both their houses.
The Contradictions of Cultural Studies
Benita Parry fingers the fissures of a house
divided.
Burning Issues
Timothy C. Weiskel warns that the protection
of the rainforests cannot be guaranteed by populist
politics of “empowerment.”
Anthropology Against Time
Johannes Fabian explains why his colleagues
seldom have time on their hands.
Letters of Reference
V.Y. Mudimbe pronounces on the troubled marriage
of literature and anthropology.
The Unkindness of Strangers
Julius Lester argues that “color-blind'” liberals
may be just plain blind.
Disorderly Woman
Feminist political theory is in a state of disorder,
and Judith Butler wouldn't want it any other
way.
Dr. Schweitzer's Racism
Ali Mazrui, himself a Schweitzer Professor
of the Humanities, relates his difficulties with the
good doctor's Life and Thought.
In the Realm of the Censors
Ernest Larsen inspects the forces arrayed against
the new multicultural art: the state censor, the market
censor, and the self censor.
Cameras in Arms
Jose Piedra focuses on documentary filmmaking
in Latin America.
Territories of the National Imagination: Intifada
Observed
Through the spate of recent books on the subject,
Ella Shohat explores the intifada as a war
of representations.
Lebanon Agonistes
Jean Said Makdisi reflects on a chronicle of
devastation.
IN FOCUS____________________
Tailoring Democracy
Michael Dummett recommends voting procedures
for a democratic South Africa.
Kenyatta and Mau Mau
Atieno Odhiambo reviews the debates over the
Mau Mau War.
Narrow Margin
Lawrence Chua on Asian cinema as flavor of
the month.
Jumbled Mirrors
Doris Sommer views the shifting kaleidoscope
of Hispanic women's writing.
Democracy in the Village
Renée Green votes on Group Material's
“Democracy Project.”
CONVERSATIONS____________________
States of DesireCultural critic bell hooks and filmmaker Isaac Julien discuss the dangerous liasons of eros and identity.