Re: Racial diversity here and possible (probable
Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Wed, 12 Aug 1998 15:59:29 -0700
WILL HOCHMAN wrote:
> Malcs, _Invisible Man_ by Ralph Ellison and _The Autobiography of Malcolm
> X_ really got to me and I'm not black
They really got to me too. As did Native Son, as did Nobody Knows My Name....
> ...but anyone who understands alienation and a struggle to respect oneself
> can inhabit these great
> books
And that's pretty much the bottom line of this thread. Paying inordinate
attention to things like race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation,
religion, heritage and geography diverts one's attention away from the real
metaphors at play in the work and just leaves you measuring yourself up to a
visual idea rather than a visceral one. It's like that line of Seymour's from
"Franny & Zooey" that I've always loved: "...all legitimate religious study
must lead to unlearning the differences, the illusory differences, between
boys and girls, animals and stones, day and night, heat and cold."
> , even if you happen to be an unimaginative american, eh? will
Ever lived abroad, Will?
Malcolm