Anti-intellectualism or semantic confusion?

[Robert Lawless]

Alexandre. Perhaps I should have used the term /semantic evolution/; the
term /scholar/ and /scholarly/ seem to have taken on a pejorative
connotation in the increasingly anti-intellectual milieu of the USA (the
beginning of the increase probably traceable to the Reagan era) similar
to what's happened to the word /liberal/. Probably what struck me most
was the connection of the three words /just scholarly observations/ and
its disconnection from "years of experience." Thanks for your response.
Robert.

Alexandre Enkerli wrote:

> > Robert,
> >
> > Is this unusual? I don't go through enough U.S. MSM to know for sure
> > but anti-intellectualism (and the related self-ghettoization of
> > several intellectuals) seems pretty common, in the United States
> > overall. But maybe this statement is more explicit than most published
> > material.
> >
> > As for the semantic confusion, do you mean that Klaidman's use
> > "scholarly" to contrast with direct experience is erroneous? Maybe I
> > don't grok the full extension of "scholarly" in these contexts but it
> > seems to me relatively appropriate. The implication could be that
> > "scholarly observations" are rigorous and dispassionate (close to the
> > scientific method) while the "years of experience" are more about
> > insight and passion. Doesn't ethnography tend to navigate between the
> > two?
> >
> > By the way, I'm not trying to be obtuse. I'm genuinely trying to
> > understand your LingAnth post.
> >
> > Alexandre
> > http://enkerli.wordpress.com/
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 15:31, Robert Lawless
> > <robert.lawless at wichita.edu> wrote:
> >
>   
>> >> Daniel Klaidman, editor of /Newsweek/, in introducing the journalist who
>> >> writes this week's cover story about China, states, "For Schell, these
>> >> are not just scholarly observations. They are the culmination of years
>> >> of experience in a country he loves, . . ."
>> >>
>> >>
>>