Sir, – Kathy Sheridan has joined the long list of commentators insisting that the word “woke” is meaningless (“Peadar Tóibín says he’s ‘bursting the woke bubble’. Does anyone care?”, November 4th).
But I have a specific idea in mind when I think of the word. It captures the characteristic style and preoccupations of the last decade of progressive politics. It is a surreal experience to be told that it does not, in fact, have meaning.
It is doubly surreal when I hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the most prominent left-wing politician in the US, refer to the progressive excesses of the recent past as “Woke 1”, and when I see the left-leaning New York Times use woke without quotes in its headlines. Is it meaningless or not?
Maybe it has meaning on one side of the Atlantic but not on the other. Or maybe it is only meaningless when spoken by the wrong sort of person. Either way, it is surely more fruitful for Sheridan to engage with criticism of her politics than to dismiss it as incoherent and unworthy of a reply.
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ANDREW O’DONOVAN,
Booterstown Avenue,
Blackrock,
Dublin.
Sir, – Kathy Sheridan makes an extremely important point in the debate about “wokeness” (whatever that might be) in drawing attention to how lacking in respect this discourse is.
If only we could remember that behind every controversial talking point there are real people whose lives are impacted by thoughtless, self-righteous chattering, we might live in a happier and more harmonious society. – Yours, etc,
DAVID M O’SHEA,
Dublin 6.
