Compiled by
the editors of Lingua
Franca
(posted Saturday, Sept.
13)
Holy
War
A group of
scholars known as "biblical minimalists" is claiming that the Good Book is
thoroughly worthless as a historical document, and that all future efforts to
reconstruct the early history of Israel must rely strictly on archaeology. In a
recent discussion of the subject in Bible Review , leading British
scholar Philip Davies is quoted as saying that "the figure of King David is
about as real as [that of] King Arthur," and minimalists point out that the
archaeological evidence for David's existence amounts to a solitary reference
to the "House of David" on a victory monument at Tel Dan. Similarly, Andrews
University's David Merling says that "only those who are friendly to the
biblical story would actually believe in an Exodus event." Discarding the
biblical narrative, minimalists reinterpret the flight from Egypt into Israel
as a variety of indigenous peasant revolt in which fed-up Canaanite farmers
wrested their land from feudal lords. Traditional scholars respond that, while
the Bible may have a shaky sense of chronology, to dismiss the text entirely is
irresponsible.
Deconstructing Martha
Cultural
studies scholars are assembling an anthology tentatively titled The Martha
Stewart Collection that will analyze the "image and rhetoric" of the
world's most famous homemaker. Hobart and William Smith Colleges Professors
Linda Robertson and Jodi Dean have circulated a prospectus for the project on
the Internet. Hoping to inspire submissions, they note that Martha "offers a
simulacrum of warmth in a house devoid of people; she represents the instinct
of workmanship to a population long divorced from it." With a nod to another
leading icon of cultural studies, Robertson and Dean suggest that "one refers
to Julia Child's cooking, naming her expertise, but to Martha--as with
Madonna--image is the product."
Kiss and
Make Up
Kathryn
Harrison's The Kiss, a memoir of her incestuous relationship with her father,
has been given a glowing review in the Journal of the American Medical
Association . The review, by physician David Hodo, praises the book as
"exquisite" and "highly recommended to all physicians." Discussing Harrison's
harrowing encounters with uncomprehending doctors--such as the physician who
broke Harrison's hymen in front of her mother--Hodo concludes that "there is
not much help for a troubled young woman with a fearful secret if a medical
system fails to be personal, complex, creative, [and] sophisticated." In a
somewhat mysterious allusion, Hodo also compares Harrison's "pilgrimage" to
that of Dilsey, the black servant in The Sound and the Fury ; perhaps he
meant to refer to incest-victim Caddy.
How the
Snake Lost Its Legs
A
hitherto unnoticed fossil in an Israeli museum is being heralded as the answer
to this evolutionary mystery. According to Michael Lee of the University of
Sydney and Michael Caldwell of Chicago's Field Museum, the 100-million-year-old
fossil, christened Pachyrachis problematicus ("problematic thick-ribbed
animal") in the late 1970s, is a proto-snake with two legs. Long ignored by
snake experts, the skeleton shares many physical characteristics with that of
snakes, including its 140 vertebrae and its extraordinarily flexible jaws.
Noting the fossil's eel-like tail and other aquatic attributes, Lee and
Caldwell suggest that these proto-snakes retreated into the water, shed their
legs, then slithered back out.
Mostly
Mozart
David Cope, a
professor of music at the University of California at Santa Cruz, claims to
have created a 42 nd Mozart symphony. Cope broke down the composer's
41 symphonies into reusable parts, then blended them together in his computer
into a convincing pastiche. "There's no expert in the world who could, without
knowing its source, say for certain that [the piece] is not [by] Mozart," Cope
boasted to Britain's New Scientist . Although Cope grants that his
artificial intelligence algorithms may not produce masterpieces, he promises
the result is at least "better than Salieri." (The computer is currently
composing a new Mahler symphony: "I'm so tired of the 10 symphonies," Cope
said. "God, it would be great to hear a new one.") Music critics complain about
the computer's tin ear, but artificial intelligence experts are impressed.
Indiana University's Douglas Hofstadter, an amateur pianist, recently played
one of Cope's fake Chopin mazurkas, and told New
Scientist he was
"stunned" by its seeming authenticity. Click here to listen to one of Cope's imitation Chopin
mazurkas.
Economics 2001
After
almost 50 years, a new economics textbook is challenging the supremacy of Paul
Samuelson's Economics . Written by Harvard's N. Gregory Mankiw, the book,
Principles of
Economics, received a $1.4 million advance from Harcourt Brace imprint
Dryden Press. Whereas Samuelson's text, now in its 15 th edition,
staunchly advocates Keynesian prescriptions, Mankiw's is touted as
post-ideological, pitting rival schools of thought against each other. Mankiw
also updates Samuelson's chatty tone--the putative source of his longstanding
success with students--with such pop references as Jim Carrey's seemingly
excessive compensation and Mia Farrow's $2,900 rent-controlled New York City
apartment. In a typical example, Mankiw illustrates the law of comparative
advantage by way of Michael Jordan and lawn mowing: "Jordan can probably mow
his lawn faster than anyone else," Mankiw writes. "But just because he can mow
his lawn fast, does this mean he should?"
