Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - Lenke Németh: Academia as a Carnivalized Space: A Bakhtinian Reading of David Mamet's Oleanna

contrast" between his discourse and his acts. His disregard for Carol's problems, and the evidence of his own university career, which is basically motivated by working for power and security, prove to be the most precise illustrations of all the aspects of his critique. The professor claims that higher education does not educate but "it is something-other-than-useful" (28), and he even degrades it to a mere "ritual" that "all are entitled to" (28). He ascribes the loss of clearly set objectives in higher education to its democratization process whereby masses of people have gained access to colleges: "I say college education, since the war, has become so a matter of course, and such a fashionable necessity, for those either of or aspiring to to [sic] the new vast middle class, that we espouse it, as a matter of right, and have ceased to ask, 'What is it good for?'" (33) Yet, he may well be one of the beneficiaries of this crucial transformation, as his earlier confessional remark suggests: "I came late to teaching. And I found it Artificial. The notion of 'I know and you do not'; and I saw the exploitation in the education process" (22). Nevertheless, from the aggressive and condescending style the professor exhibits toward Carol at the beginning of their encounter, one can conclude that he has completely adopted the "I know and you do not" model as well as conclude that he has completely adopted the "I know and you do not" model as well as the principle of exploitation condemned by him initially. The professor's vivid description of the deficiencies of a ritualized form of college education illuminates that the concept of educate has undergone a drastic semantical carnivalization: "[w]e shove this book at you, we say read it. Now, you say you've read it? I think that you're lying. I'll grill you, and when I find you've lied, you'll be disgraced, and your life will be ruined. It's a sick game" (28). This kind of depersonalized method of instruction leads to the "mass production" of graduates rather than education in its genuine, original sense. In other words, the original meaning of the etymologically related Latin e-ducere meaning "to foster" and "to bring forth" hidden capabilities and talents from a disciple has degraded to grill. Furthermore, a "carnivalistic contrast" between the professor's apparent achievements in his professional career (he has published several books, he will be granted tenure) and his failure to teach the 242