Belief In An Age Of Intolerance
World Literature Today|November – December 2017

In this brief essay, poet and translator H. L. Hix argues that it is the act of believing, more than the thing believed, that relates more directly to intolerance.

H. L. Hix
Belief In An Age Of Intolerance

Belief can refer to the thing believed, or to the act of believing, and the two meanings are equally available to this forum’s title, “Belief in an Age of Intolerance.” The title could disambiguate toward thing believed by substituting the plural: “Beliefs in an Age of Intolerance.” The title could disambiguate toward act of believing by substituting the gerund: “Believing in an Age of Intolerance.” As a stay against confusion from this ambiguity, as a way, in fact, to take advantage of the ambiguity to highlight salient facts about belief and intolerance, let “belief (t)” designate the thing believed, and “belief (a)” designate the act of believing. Belief (t) would include such usages as: “I know something if it is a justified true belief ”; “It is my belief that Olga Korbut was a better gymnast than Nadia Comăneci.” Belief (a) would include such usages as: “Belief in propaganda weakens citizenship”; “It’s a warped version of belief that cult practices.”

This story is from the November – December 2017 edition of World Literature Today.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the November – December 2017 edition of World Literature Today.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM WORLD LITERATURE TODAYView All
Our Revenge Will Be the Laughter of Our Children
World Literature Today

Our Revenge Will Be the Laughter of Our Children

What is it about the revolutionary that draws our fascinated attention? Whether one calls it the North of Ireland or Northern Ireland, the Troubles continue to haunt the land and those who lived through them.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2021
Turtles
World Literature Today

Turtles

In a field near the Gaza Strip, a missile strike, visions, and onlookers searching for an explanation.

time-read
6 mins  |
Winter 2021
Surviving and Subverting the Totalitarian State: A Tribute to Ismail Kadareby Kapka Kassabova
World Literature Today

Surviving and Subverting the Totalitarian State: A Tribute to Ismail Kadareby Kapka Kassabova

As part of the ceremony honoring Kadare as the 2020 laureate—with participants logging in from dozens of countries around the world— Kadare’s nominating juror, Kapka Kassabova, offered a video tribute from her home in Scotland.

time-read
6 mins  |
Winter 2021
Dead Storms and Literature's New Horizon: The 2020 Neustadt Prize Lecture
World Literature Today

Dead Storms and Literature's New Horizon: The 2020 Neustadt Prize Lecture

During the Neustadt Prize ceremony on October 21, 2020, David Bellos read the English language version of Kadare’s prize lecture to a worldwide Zoom audience.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2021
Ismail Kadare: Winner of the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
World Literature Today

Ismail Kadare: Winner of the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, World Literature Today presented the 2020 Neustadt Festival 100 percent online. In the lead-up to the festival, U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim officially presented the award to Kadare at a ceremony in Tirana in late August, attended by members of Kadare’s family; Elva Margariti, the Albanian minister of culture; and Besiana Kadare, Albania’s ambassador to the United Nations.

time-read
3 mins  |
Winter 2021
How to Adopt a Cat
World Literature Today

How to Adopt a Cat

Hoping battles knowing in this three-act seduction (spoiler alert: there’s a cat in the story).

time-read
6 mins  |
Winter 2021
Chicken Soup: The Story of a Jewish Family
World Literature Today

Chicken Soup: The Story of a Jewish Family

Chickens, from Bessarabia to New York City, provide a generational through-line in these four vignettes.

time-read
10 mins  |
Winter 2021
Awl
World Literature Today

Awl

“Awl” is from a series titled “Words I Did Not Understand.” Through memory—“the first screen of nostalgia”—and language, a writer pieces together her story of home.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2021
Apocalyptic Scenarios and Inner Worlds
World Literature Today

Apocalyptic Scenarios and Inner Worlds

A Conversation with Gloria Susana Esquivel

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2021
Marie's Proof of Love
World Literature Today

Marie's Proof of Love

People believe, Marie thinks, even when there’s no proof. You believe because you imagine. But is imagination enough to live by?

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2021