THE STRANGE CAREER OF 'LATIN-AMERICAN STUDIES'

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 356, S. 106-112

Abstract

Whatever the recent progress of Latin American (LA) studies in the US, it is less evident to outsiders than to specialists in the field. Defects of our LA programs are most noticeable at the liberal-arts core of humanities & the soc sci's. Anthrop in its present state, offers the best point of departure for examining LA culture; literary & historical studies are esp weak. A drawback to LA as a field of study, in contrast to Asia or Africa, is that its culture is deceptively recognizable to Amer's. Moreover, our inherited suspicion of the Catholic world discourages study of its intellectual origins, & prevents us from identifying its sociol'al & psychol'al foundations. Today the wholesale subsidizing of LA studies threatens to cut them off further from our academic mainstream & to encourage mediocrity. The various causes for the poverty of our LA programs may possibly relate to our submerged doubts about the wisdom of the original Protestant secession. AA.