Do you think that some academic writings are nonsense?

Question

I'm reading up on 'the aesthetic of beauty and pain' or some b*llocks for my third year drama degree. I don't understand ANY of it. The bits I do understand are very short - and as I read on, I tend to find that these bits I've picked out actually epitomise what is being said in the entire chapter - the writer has taken 47 pages to write something that can be encapsulated in three sentences. It's so pretentious and it's doing my nut in!

Answer 1

It sounds painful... but if you would like some conciliation, try reading the "most current" educational philosophies! Most are written by people that have not been in a classroom since the Reagan was still in office... or better yet, they have never been in a classroom; they simple observe and collect data then they analyze it to teach teachers what works best!!!!!! And people wonder why the schools are in such bad shape!

Answer 2

Pretentious is the key word here. Some academics are merely showing off for their cohorts. It is funny when you think about it, but not funny if you have to read it.

This will not be the first pretentious academic reading you will have to study.

Hang in there. You will get through it.

Answer 3

To "earn" an MA or a PhD, one must usually write a thesis or a dissertation.  It must be original.  It does not matter that the candidate is a superb student with outstanding talents; the paper is everything.

Once one is past that lengthy hazing, one must earn his keep by continuing to write (or give lectures) in the area of his expertise.  The writings must be published so that they gain recognition.  This recognition can be cashed in in the form of grants, donations, etc.

In short, whether one wants to write or not, he must.  In the field of linguistics, paper after paper, study after study pollute libraries and journals, yet little of substance has been added to linguistic epistemology since Noam Chomsky's syntactic structure and transformational grammar.

Don't blame the writers; the system seeks recognition and the ca$h that goes with it.  There is little thirst for true knowledge and the passing down of that knowledge from generation to generation.

Answer 4

Yes,most of them are.