"Sure, anyone with a blog can express an opinion about a book, but true criticism is more than just an opinion." says Richard Schickel of the LA Times.
He goes on to say, "Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise..."
He forgets, as so many people do, that many people exercise their critical thinking muscles when reading blogs, criticism in print, or any other source for that matter. Our current situation only emphasizes the role librarians and teachers can play in promoting critical evaluation of sources. "Information needs" come in many forms, and have many subtle dimensions, and require diverse resources to satisfy them.
He goes on to say, "Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise..."
He forgets, as so many people do, that many people exercise their critical thinking muscles when reading blogs, criticism in print, or any other source for that matter. Our current situation only emphasizes the role librarians and teachers can play in promoting critical evaluation of sources. "Information needs" come in many forms, and have many subtle dimensions, and require diverse resources to satisfy them.
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1 comment:
I think there's a difference between the criticism he's talking about and the application of critical thinking skills.
That being said, I seriously disagree with one or two of his points. He's right that most blogging doesn't achieve what quality literary or artistic criticism or reviews ought to. And that much blogging is more like speech than writing.
But he basically characterizes all blogging as "a form of speech, not of writing," as "mere yammering" that does not impose any sense of responsibility on writer or reader, as idle chat that has nothing to do with logically reasoned discourse. He's way off-base. That's often true but certainly not always.
He's also a disgusting snob, but I guess that's part of his point. How, perhaps he feels, can he effectively express cultural inadequacy of the hoi-polloi without rudely insulting them?
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