90. Geburtstag von Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky (* 7. Dezember 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) ist emeritierter Professor für Linguistik am Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), einer der weltweit bekanntesten linken Intellektuellen und seit den 1960er Jahren einer der prominentesten Kritiker der US-amerikanischen Politik.
Chomsky ist einer der bekanntesten Linguisten der Gegenwart. Er übte durch die Verbindung der Wissenschaftsdisziplinen Linguistik, Kognitionswissenschaften und Informatik besonders in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts starken Einfluss auf deren Entwicklung aus. Seine Beiträge zur allgemeinen Sprachwissenschaft sowie seine Modelle der generativen Transformationsgrammatik veränderten den bis dahin vorherrschenden US-amerikanischen Strukturalismus. Seine Kritik am Behaviorismus förderte den Aufstieg der Kognitionswissenschaft.

Wikipedia
Abbildung aus Wikipedia

Noam Chomsky Turns 90: How a U.S. Anarchist Has More Than Survived

by Bruce E. Levine, COUNTERPUNCH

In unserer Bibliothek Gleichgewicht haben wir einige Bücher von Chomsky in amerikanischen Ausgaben und deutschsprachigen Übertragungen.

70th birthday of Angela Davis

Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, scholar, Communist and author. She emerged as a nationally prominent counterculture activist and radical in the 1960s, as a leader of the Communist Party USA, and had close relations with the Black Panther Party through her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement despite never being an official member of the party. Prisoner rights have been among her continuing interests; she is the founder of Critical Resistance, an organization working to abolish the prison-industrial complex. She is a retired professor with the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is the former director of the university's Feminist Studies department.

Wikipedia

Noam Chomsky's 85th birthday

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator and activist. Sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy. He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is currently Professor Emeritus, and has authored over 100 books. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and was voted the "world's top public intellectual" in a 2005 poll.

Wikipedia
Abbildung aus Wikipedia (Duncan Rawlinson, 2004)

Zitate

George Oppens 105. Geburtstag

George Oppen (April 24, 1908 – July 7, 1984) was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism, and later moved to Mexico to avoid the attentions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He returned to poetry — and to the United States — in 1958, and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1969.

Wikipedia


Abbildung aus Wikipedia (by Richard Friedman, 1980)

Susan Sontags 80. Geburtstag

Susan Sontag (* 16. Januar 1933 in New York; † 28. Dezember 2004 ebenda) war eine amerikanische Schriftstellerin, Essayistin, Publizistin und Regisseurin. Sie war bekannt für ihren Einsatz für Menschenrechte sowie als Kritikerin der gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse und der Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia english

Abbildung aus der amerikanischen Wikipedia

Susan Sontag official website

Gore Vidal dies July 31, 2012

Eugene Luther Gore Vidal,  October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012, was an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality. He also ran for political office twice and was a longtime political critic.

Wikipedia

Gore Vidal dies aged 86
Feisty American author wrote widely on everything from politics and literature to homosexuality and religion
The Guardian, 1.8.2012

US author Gore Vidal dies aged 86
Celebrated writer and political commentator Gore Vidal has died aged 86, his family has confirmed.
BBC, 1.8.2012
With some telling comments by readers.

If one listens closely to the words of Gore Vidal, one wonders how he could hve been popular. There is a contradiciton, not on his side, but on the side of the American public. Obviously popularity doesn't ncessarily come along with understanding. Ohterwise American politics would be quite different. But his is, of course, not to count on Gore Vidal who was outspoken and highly educated. The Americans generally are of low education, as Vidal for himself compared often in contrast to the Europeans. Unfortunately, this low educated not knowing people easyly can be fooled and welcome to be fooled. This is an eminent danger, not the last, of which Gore Vidal spoke often.

Addendum:

'The Man Who Knew Everyone' - Gore Vidal Through The Eyes Of The One Per Cent Press
David Edwards, MEDIA LENS, August 20, 2012