Michel Chaouli

Why I'm an Academic

I find this to be the most difficult question to address straightforwardly, since I am often conflicted about my intellectual and academic engagements. But being conflicted can itself be productive. I have tried to work out why this may be true for literary studies in an essay, published in Profession 2003 (here in PDF format). I have also pursued the question in TLS 5004 (1999): 14-15. It is easier to say what I don't want to do as an academic; here is a polemic, entitled "Against Moralization," presented at the convention of the German Studies Association in October 2005. Since I don't find any of these satisfying as answers to the question of why I am an academic, I will try to return to it from time to time.

Back to Michel Chaouli's Homepage