22. "Hegemony."

"Hegemony," a word meaning "predominant influence," is used mainly by academics. It did good work for a number of years referring to political domination like that of the Romans in Europe or the Han in China. Then it did good but more specialized work after the Marxist Antonio Gramsci used it to refer to cultural domination, as of one class over another. This licensed the word for use by postmodern theorists who wanted to disapprove of such domination. It made the reference but suggested, in the cold way of the neutral academic, disfavor.

You can see a lot more of this disfavor in the London Review of Books than in the New York Review, a periodical less welcoming of postmodern theory. It appears mainly in the adjective forms: "hegemonic power" (as of imperial Britain and post-WWII America), "hegemonic reason" "(of the Enlightenment, and male), "hegemonic project" "(that of Modernism in the 20th century), "hegemonic discourse" (what the hegemon engages in to retain its dominance), and "hegemonic masculinity" (what rugby promotes in New Zealand society).

At first these all look easy for a word-inspector like me to snap at. Hegemonic power? I become a Libyan in Misrata, longing to break Qaddafi's siege. "Oh for an assertion of NATO's hegemonic power!" I say. "Oh for the U. S.! Where is the hegemon when you need him?" Hegemonic reason? I become a moderate Republican candidate trying to keep the birthers on my right from embarrassing me: "Oh for respect of evidence! Oh for a little reason! Why weren't your teachers more hegemonic in the Enlightenment way? What's happened to their kind of discourse?" I even go back and become a Goth lacking roads, a currency, commerce, towns, and literacy. What am I missing? Roman hegemony.

But then, "hegemonic masculinity." Looks easiest of all, with the LRB trying to push all those Kiwi jocks off on us. Not so easy when I think of what kept a boy in my high school from admitting a love of poetry. There is such a thing as hegemonic masculinity. And I disapprove of it! Ah, but the big test. For "hegemonic masculinity" to make it as a qualifier there ought to be a hegemonic femininity. And that doesn't exist. Nobody talks about such a thing. Ha!

Then I think of Barbie. "Hegemonic" is just the word for her grip on my young daughters. I have been reminded again not to dismiss the postmodern vocabulary too quickly.

That, however, doesn't mean "hegemonic" works in those other put-downs. "Hegemonic reason" still fails the birther test. And that test is the kind we properly ask all theorists to submit their words to. "Take the words you use to each other out into the world of practical need and see if they work there." I'd have them become besieged Libyans, and moderate Republicans, and benighted Goths.

Theorists should be glad to submit their words to such a test. It will save them from disfavoring something they really favor — as we, with "making war on his own people," were disfavoring Abraham Lincoln. Writers should be glad for the test. It will save them from choosing blanket expressions without noticing how much they cover.

We all, in fact, should be glad. Few of us can resist flavoring our words. We want what we think is good to taste good, and what we think is bad to taste bad. The test in the larger world, conducted in our minds, helps us avoid mistakes. If it doesn't put good sweetly on our table at least it keeps us from bittering our own tea.