Of course, it would be scurrilous (and ad hominem) to point out the irony of professional, hence interested, literary critics arguing for the political utility of their discipline because it exposes the hidden interests of others. It would not in any case invalidate their analysis. However, one does wish to flag the question of at what point this methodology balances hermeneutical suspicion toward other persons, structures, and systems with interpretative charity and self-criticism. This question is pregnant at several points in an otherwise fine volume.
- Michael J. Lakey in his review of Roland Boer and Jorunn Økland, eds. Marxist Feminist Criticism of the Bible, Sheffield, 2008.
Of course, it would be scurrilous (and ad hominem) to point out the irony of using the word "pregnant" in the concluding sentence of a review of a book on Marxist Feminist criticism, so of course I will do no such thing! :-D
