The Critic as Parasite H. Aram Veeser (bio) Critics are sometimes felt to be parasitic upon the really creative and original writers. The word "parasite" is, at its etymological root, a spatial metaphor—a being that dwells "next to" (para-) a source of "food" (sitos)—the relationship between a parasite and its host gains coherence from a shared space. In everyday speech a parasite is "a sponger, a lazy profiteer, a drain on society." But in a biologist's terms, the parasite is "an ancient and respectable view of life" (Playfair 2007, 19). Michel Serres in his study, The Parasite, says that the parasite is not entirely bad. A parable illustrates that parasites disrupt the usual economies of capitalism: The parasite is invited to the table d'hote; in return, he must regale the other diners with his stories and his mirth. To be exact, he exchanges good talk for good food; he buys his dinner, paying for it in words. It is the oldest profession in the world. A vagrant, dying of hunger, found himself one evening at the kitchen window of a well-known restaurant. The aromas were delicious. He filled himself on them and that calmed his hunger pangs a bit. One of the scullions discovered the trick and, quickly coming outside, demanded money for what could be called the service rendered. The vagrant and the scullion were about to fight over their disagreement when a third person came by who offered to settle the matter. Give me a coin, he said. The wretch did so, frowning. He put the coin down on the sidewalk and with the heel of his shoe made it ring a bit. This noise, he said, giving his decision, is pay enough for the aroma of the tasty dishes. The roast is the thing eaten, and an aroma comes from it. The coin is the thing exchanged, and a sound comes from it. If the coin is worth the roast, then the sound of the coin is worth the aroma of the food. And he returned the coin to the vagrant. Justice is done. (Serres 2007) Serres concludes this story in a way that makes me think that parasites are a little bit like literary critics. The parasite invents something new. Since he does not eat like everyone else, he builds a new logic. He crosses the exchange, makes it into a diagonal. He does not barter; he exchanges money. He [End Page 409] wants to give his voice for matter, (hot) air for solid, superstructure for infrastructure. People laugh, the parasite is expelled, he is made fun of, he is beaten, he cheats us; but he invents anew. This novelty must be analyzed. This sound, this aroma, passing for money or roast. (2007) The parasite's positive trait is this capacity to introduce something new and to throw existing arrangements out of whack. Jane Gallop told me theory had completely overturned the literary canon, as early as 1985. Beginning with the so-called culture wars around that time, critics have been beaten and made fun of and had their lines withdrawn. By the early 1990s, the same moment when Bill Clinton outlawed welfare mothers, literary critics were on their way to being expelled from the workforce. But some potentially good qualities of parasitism still make their appearance in the interviews that I have completed with some of the few remaining North American literary critics. I hasten to add that parasite was not always an insult—it was respectable in ancient Rome to live off the hospitality of others. In the Renaissance, the sponger and the hanger-on were a feature of court society. It was only with the rise of middle-class respectability that parasitism became abominable. Capitalism has no tolerance for parasites. Paid flatterer cannot be your job description on your W-2 form. If you have as I had a self-made-millionaire Uncle Henry, that uncle will refuse to be a sucker and hire a sycophant to stroke his ego. Or so he will pretend—in fact Uncle Henry will nurture hangers-on, "helpers," and servants with vague duties. Serres links together three categories of parasites: biological, social...