The Dangers of Romanticizing The Liberal Arts

Originally published in The Collector on the 22nd of July, 2022.

The year was 2002, and the term ‘deconstruction’ had swept through the intellectual scene both in Europe and the United States. After notable publications such as de la Grammatologie and L’écriture et la différence, Derrida’s name became synonymous with the avant-garde intellectual undermining Western tradition. But Derrida himself regarded popular representations of ‘deconstruction’ with mixed feelings. He thought that the public conception of his philosophy was a blatant misreading.

During an interview in 2002, an American journalist asked the French philosopher whether ‘deconstruction’ was parallel to the sitcom Seinfeld in its ironic and fractured ways of storytelling, but Derrida replied: “Deconstruction, as I understand it doesn’t produce any sitcom,” he said, “and if people who watch [Seinfeld] think deconstruction is this, the only advice I have to give them is just stop watching sitcom, do your homework, and read.”

The struggles of presenting academic knowledge to the general public aren’t limited to ‘deconstruction’, but Derrida’s example can be a gateway for us to discuss a bigger problem. Namely, the gap between the reality of studying the liberal arts and the idea of exploring the liberal arts portrayed in social media and popular fiction.