thought for food

from nikhil pal singh's black is a country:

the public is less a concrete aggregation of persons than an ethical ideal and symbolic construct that signifies the democratic institution of modern politics itself, to which the watchwords of "publicity," "public opinion," and above all, "publication,"attest. intellectuals in turn can be understood to be among the primary producers of public discourse - theoretical and practical knowledge of the social world - knowledge that becomes a key stake in social and political struggles to conserve or transform that world.

singh's definition speaks to my concerns with academic writing. though singh does not really help me formulate a definition of the "public" that suits my own position and occupation, the connections he draws between the intellectual, the social, and the political are useful in thinking about what "public" really means. not everyone is public. children, for instance, are not public beings - they are socially, culturally, legally, and politically subsumed within a family structure, be it their parents or the state via an orphanage.

the notion of the "public" as a construct also speaks to contemporary concerns with the public as really composed of a number of overlapping yet distinct and often competing publics. in other words, books are written for a number of groups. for instance, roald dahl's charlie and the chocolate factory was written for young adults, parents, and me.

and speaking of food, i would like to refer you to the title of my post. having read this entire post, i now require that you send me edible items as a token of appreciation for having imparted knowledge and wisdom. i am a poor graduate student. this is literally how i feed myself. ta!