ON CLEAR WRITING
Written by Evan Stark to
The New York Times,
March 24, l999

To the Editor:
Judy Butler (Op-Ed March 20th) insists that what her critics (in Letters, March 24th) consider “bad writing” is necessary to express complex or radical ideas. The letter writers want clear, accessible and jargon free prose, unquestionably worthy aims. The exchange reminded me of an encounter with Albert Einstein described by Marlene Deitrich in her autobiography. The actress asked the physicist to kindly explain his theory of relativity in simple terms. “Think,” Einstein quipped, “of when Zurich stops at this train.” Could anything have been clearer? Or more complex?

—Evan Stark
—New Haven, CT

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Stark is writing in regard to an Op-Ed in which Berkeley professor, Judith Butler defended what one letter-writer to the Times described as her “ponderous and obscure” writing style. The letter responded to Prof. Butler having received a“Bad Writing” award from an academic journal.

As many in academia, particularly at the graduate level, continue to embrace the idea that profound ideas are impossible apart from impenetrable prose, we thought Stark’s 1999 call for intellectual clarity remains relevant.