This August, I was invited to present a lecture at the Forum for Contemporary Thought, organized by the Department of English at Central University of Tiruvarur, Tamilnadu. My lecture, titled “Society, Culture, and Theory in Contemporary Times,” sought to explore the key terms in my title and their intersections within the field of the humanities.
To create the context, I queried the term ‘Liberal Arts’, (as Humanities is many a time labelled as Liberal arts) particularly the notion of “liberal” and its implications for freedom and its pedagogical usage within the humanities classrooms. A long-standing idea of the humanities or the liberal arts curriculum is about cultivating a system of values and yet the query once again was whether this happened in practice.
Reflecting on English literature courses in the higher education, one recognized that most often we ended viewing it as being utilitarian and hence our end goal was economic rather than being critical thinking and conceptual enquiry. Moving ahead from these peripheral concerns and after providing notations for society and culture, I examined the rise of theory and the perpetual divide between those who embrace it and those who are skeptical of it.
Whether we accept it or not, theory has become essential—literature is no longer confined to a canon of English authors but includes a broader spectrum of texts that engage with society and culture. As a result, subjective preferences are no longer enough; we need a framework to navigate the complexities, which is why theory has gained such prominence. However, I circled back to the question of liberal and freedom: how much creative and innovative thinking is truly encouraged in the classroom? While my lecture raised more questions than it answered, it was a rewarding experience to engage with students and scholars. I extend my gratitude to the English Department at CUTN for their warm welcome and the wonderful opportunity.
The field of enquiry is indeed very relevant and the critical issues raised are very useful. We need to engage with them now as attempts at liberal thinking are often being threatened. Theories provide lenses and frameworks but too much preoccupation with them may not allow us to venture into avenues of free thoughts. Thanks for providing insights in the area.
Thanks for the response. I agree that too much preoccupation with theory is not good. But the point I was making is that when you venture into avenues of free thoughts you cannot randomly discuss unless you have a theory framework. I think we both are thinking on similar patterns. Thanks for reading this.