"Speaking truth to power?": American usage, Canadian literary studies, andpolicies for the public good in Canada

Why is our discipline in its current condition? What can be done to improve that condition in a way broadly supportive of the public good? What can we learn in this regard from American oppositional discourse? An important pa rt of the answer to these three questions lies in relations between literar y scholarship and the formation of public policy. These relations need to b e more developed, more strategic, and more highly valued than they have bee n recently by the professoriate. And this can best occur through changes in academic culture at the individual, disciplinary, and institutional levels , and through a more thorough Indigenizing of the liberal arts. Using the c urrent status of English as the world language to help authorize our interv ention in public debates about the value of what we teach and study, ACCUTE members have an opportunity and an obligation to promote public sector and Indigenous versions of Canadian distinctiveness.