Claims of literature’s universal value conceal their own political commitments.

Evidence

American and British scholarship was based, he thought, on a conceit: it pretended to discover Universal Truth, to proclaim Universal Laws, and to describe a Universal Man. Upon inspection it appeared, however, that its Universal Man resembled a type found around Cambridge, Massachusetts, or Cambridge, England; its Universal Laws resembled those felt to be useful by Congress and Parliament; and its Universal Truth bore English and American accents. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 592 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The figure of the postcolonial author conceals mass production in individualism; The claim that literature stands free of political taint is a liberal humanist fiction; So-called universal scholarship actually reflects imperial national biases — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 592 (+6 more)

Related

• So-called universal scholarship actually reflects imperial national biases (similarity 0.90)

Broader Connections

• So-called universal scholarship actually reflects imperial national biases #exemplifies (0.85) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 592
• A liberal-humanist stance toward novels can itself smuggle in Islamophobic assumptions #exemplifies (0.80)