Dr. Wright,

Defining the "progressive view" in terms of neo-romantic values runs counter to Raymond Williams' account of the term in Keywords. As your assertions become more heated--"the progressives are still fantasizing about the Child"--your definition seems more influenced itself by your personal and spontaneous gripe than by an honest assessment of this word's ambiguity. Were you to consider the complicated status of this word in American history, for example, I doubt you would cast it in terms of all things undisciplined, childish and enthusiastic. That's the problem with such words: they resist pat definitions-- consider "reactionary," for instance.

Michael Dee

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