01/08/13 Project MUSE - Conditional Goods and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: How Literature (as a Whole) Could Matter Again

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Conditional Goods and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: How Literature (as a

Whole) Could Matter Again
Research Areas
JoshuaLandy
Literature
From:SubStance
Volume42,Number2,2013(Issue131)
pp.4860|10.1353/sub.2013.0026
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Inlieuofanabstract,hereisabriefexcerptofthecontent: Emailalinktothispage
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Weliteraryscholarshaveanotoriousflairforthedramatic,andIsuspectthatformany,thefirstimpulsewhen
confrontedwiththequestion"doesliteraturematter?"istosaysomethinglike"ofcourseitmatters,andanyone
whodoesn'tseethatisaheartlessbrute,"oramoreprobableresponsethesedays"ofcourseitdoesn't
matter,andanyonewhodoesn'tseethatisblindedbytheshimmeringallureofculturalcapital."Butthings,in
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reality,areneverthatsimple.It'snotjustthattheword"literature"hascarriedavarietyofmeaningsoverthe
years.It'snotevenjustthatliterarytextsaffectdifferentpeopleindifferentways(sometimesindeedthesame
personindifferentwaysatseparatepointsinherlife).It'sthattheytend,veryoften,nottomatterontheirown.In ViewCitation
ordertomatter,playsandpoemsandstoriesneedalittlehelpfromustheyarethereforeneitherautomatically SaveCitation
futile(astheculturalcapitalbrigadewouldhaveusbelieve)norautomaticallybeneficial(asthemoral
improvementbrigadewouldhaveusbelieve),butinsteadsomethingwhoseimportancedependsinpartonour
Youhaveaccessto
involvement,somethingwecanassistinmattering.Theyarealsosomethingwewillfailtoassistinmattering,as thiscontent
longasweremainstuckinourcynicalandwishfulpieties.Whilethewishfulpietieshavealienatedpotential
readers,thecynicaloneshaveturnedintoselffulfillingpropheciesagainstthatbackground,wehavealotof Freesample
worktodoifliteratureasawholeisonedaytomatteragain.
OpenAccess

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Let'sstartfromwhatIhopewillbeahelpfuldistinction.Whenwethinkaboutthingsthatmatter,I'dliketo
suggest,wetendtoseethemasfallingintooneofthreebroadcategories:intrinsicgoods,constructedgoods,
andconditionalgoods.Oxygen,forexample,isinherentlyvaluableforcreatureslikeuswedon'thavetobea
certainkindofperson,haveagivenattitude,ormakeanyeffort,inordertofinditnecessaryforoursurvival.A
teddybear,bycontrast,isinitselfjustabundleofclothstitchedtogether,butwehaveitinourpower(ifweare
undertheageof7,atleast)toturnitintothesinglemostimportantthinginourlives.Solet'scallthata
constructedgood.Butinbetweenthesetwoextremestheobjectivelyindispensable,theobjectivelysuperfluous
thereisathirdcategory,intowhichfallobjectslikeblueprints.

Ablueprintforasupercomputermaywellbeofimmensevalue:loseit,andopportunitiesfortremendous
achievementsaregoneatastroke.Thatsaid,theblueprintisofvalueonlyifthematerialsareavailable,ifthere
areskilledtechniciansonhandtoassemblethem,andcruciallyifweknowhowtoreadblueprintsinthefirst
place.(Inadystopianfuture,itiseasytoimaginehumanshavingalltheblueprintsintheworldbutnotbeingable
toassemblesomuchasabicycle.I'msureIcouldn't.)Anotherwayofputtingthisistosaythatconditional
goodsrequireaninvestmentonourside(unlikeoxygen),butgivebackmorethanweputin(unliketeddybears).
Nowitturnsoutthatliterarytextsthemoreinterestingones,atleastfallunderthisthirdcategory,thecategory
ofconditionalgoods.Theymattertremendously,butonlyiftheyareread,andindeedonlyiftheyarereadina
certainwaytheymatter,inotherwords,onlyiftherightkindofreadercontinuestoexist.Andthat'swhathas
startedtobeinseriousdoubt,astherightkindofreaderhovers,likethePhilippinetarsier,ontheveryvergeof
extinction.

2
Tobefair,literatureconferssomeofitsbenefitsdirectlytothatextentitcontinuestomakeadifference,even
forthosepeopleandtheyarenowmanywhoconsiderliteratureawasteoftimeandthemselvesasblissfully
sparedanycontactwithit.Afterall,whilerelativelyfewthesedaysarereadingJaneEyre(orevenHarryPotter),
enormousnumbersofpeoplearewatchingfictionsonscreenslarge...

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