THE EXPANDING HUMANITIES AND THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOLAR / WALTER J. ONG.

SCHOLARS MUST RECOGNIZE AND UNDERSTAND THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION IN THE HUMANITIES. THERE ARE AN INCREASING NUMBER OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND ORAL TRADITIONS AVAILABLE FOR STUDY AS WELL AS NEW MATERIALS, INSIGHTS, AND TECHNIQUES OF STUDY IN EVERY HUMANISTIC FIELD. BUT BEYOND THE QUANTITY AND VARIETY IN RESEARCH, THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION INVOLVES THE NEED FOR A NEW KIND OF HISTORICAL SENSE, A KNOWLEDGE OF CHANGES WITHIN THE HUMANITIES WHICH WERE NOT APPARENT TO THOSE IN ANY AGE MUCH BEFORE OUR OWN. THESE CHANGES ARE MOST APPARENT IN THE AREAS OF THE CULTURAL RELEVANCE OF LITERATURE, THE EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF VERBAL PERFORMANCE AND ITS INTERACTION WITH THE NEWER MASS MEDIA, AND A SENSE OF THE SYNCHRONIC PRESENT, WHICH INCLUDES THE PAST. BECAUSE OF THESE CHANGES AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC'S INSISTENCE ON THE RELEVANCE OF THE HUMANITIES, SCHOLARS SHOULD MAKE THEIR WORK RELEVANT. THE SCHOLAR ALSO MUST DEVELOP PRODUCTIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD THE TOOLS, ESPECIALLY THE COMPUTER WHICH PRESENT-DAY TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES FOR HANDLING MASSES OF MATERIALS. HE MUST ACQUIRE AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO ACQUIRE SKILLS NEEDED TO MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH THE PAST, LEST THE FRUITFUL RELATIONSHIP OF PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE BE LOST. THIS SPEECH WAS DELIVERED AT THE PLENARY MEETING OF THE MLA STANDING COMMITTEES, NEW YORK CITY, MARCH 30, 1967, AND APPEARED IN "PMLA," VOLUME 82, NUMBER 4, SEPTEMBER 1967, PAGES 1-7. (BN)

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