Re: Jerome & Jane
Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Thu, 26 Mar 1998 12:56:27 -0500
> I find Jane Austen--forgive
> me--far too much of a snotty Brit. I feel I must qualify this by saying
> that I in no way find British people inherently snotty--but Jane Austen,
> to me, perpetuates the stereotype.
...
> I realize that I'm inviting
> all sorts of wonderful responses in the eternal tone of Dry Wit, dealing
> with the great uncouth Colonials (eh? Dry Wit?)
While I don't much agree with your assessment of British literature, I have
to call a halt when I hear defensive talk about "Colonials," (with its
implication of intrinsic inferiority) unless you're living in a country
different than mine. The point I'm clumsily trying to make is: dislike
books for your own reason, but forget the Colonial thing. It hasn't been
an issue in a while; if you do indeed live in the US, keep in mind that you
owe no apologies and you're not a Colonial.
I can't resist dropping in lines from poet Amiri Baraka's "In the
Tradition"; he went on mostly about music in America, reminding defensive,
Eurocentric music lovers:
Where's your American music?
George Washington WON the war!
and later, about literature:
Like Englishmen, talking about GREAT Britain.
...
When they say "Say Nay," say:
"Put the Irish on that."
...
"You mean Irish literature, Irish.
You mean Yeats, Synge, Shaw, Beckett, Wilde, O'Casey?
They's Irish -- Irish as the IRA."
[I've done this from memory and probably mangled his much more beautiful,
rhythmic riff, which I absolutely cannot locate.]
Dislike Jane Austen if you believe you must, but ditch the inferiority
complex. Your mood will change dramatically! <*great careful grin here*>
--tim