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Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century by Harvey J. Graff (review)

Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century by Harvey J. Graff (review) symplokeˉ 547 to detail the multiple areas of the brain that interact as we work to regulate levels of attention (e.g. close detail or broader concept) (11). What is more, one of these primary interfaces, “the temporoparietal junction” borders “Wernicke’s area, the key region of the brain for reading” (12). Working through the neurological signifi cance of this for his readership, Letzler concludes that “[h]igh-level reading skills, then, might well be linked to high- level capacity at attentional selection” (12). Before causing alarm that the entire text utilizes inaccessible neuroscientifi c terminology, I would like to set future readers’ minds at ease by stating that Letzler consistently paraphrases his sources, allowing a philological audience to better understand what is going on as they process, willingly or unwillingly, a big book. The argument, however, is not without its fl aws, though I fi nd that they coincide with what the author does well. In differentiating his position from existing scholarship, the academic occasionally oversimplifi es positions he is working against, particularly when it comes to postmodern and poststructuralist theory. This is most problematic in the conclusion, as Letzler asserts that “literature is largely exempt from the dangers of ambition because, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png symploke University of Nebraska Press

Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century by Harvey J. Graff (review)

Fairlamb, Horace
symploke , Volume 26 (1) – Nov 28, 2018
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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 symploke.
ISSN
1534-0627

Abstract

symplokeˉ 547 to detail the multiple areas of the brain that interact as we work to regulate levels of attention (e.g. close detail or broader concept) (11). What is more, one of these primary interfaces, “the temporoparietal junction” borders “Wernicke’s area, the key region of the brain for reading” (12). Working through the neurological signifi cance of this for his readership, Letzler concludes that “[h]igh-level reading skills, then, might well be linked to high- level capacity at attentional selection” (12). Before causing alarm that the entire text utilizes inaccessible neuroscientifi c terminology, I would like to set future readers’ minds at ease by stating that Letzler consistently paraphrases his sources, allowing a philological audience to better understand what is going on as they process, willingly or unwillingly, a big book. The argument, however, is not without its fl aws, though I fi nd that they coincide with what the author does well. In differentiating his position from existing scholarship, the academic occasionally oversimplifi es positions he is working against, particularly when it comes to postmodern and poststructuralist theory. This is most problematic in the conclusion, as Letzler asserts that “literature is largely exempt from the dangers of ambition because,

Journal

symploke – University of Nebraska Press

Published: Nov 28, 2018

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