MDDM Ch. 4 "Bongo" and the benign stereotype

[Michael Perez]

jbor wrote:
"It very much depends on the reader, doesn't it. If one absorbs, for
want of a better word, the stereotype uncritically, as a young child
might for example, then it is potentially a very dangerous thing. Twain
and Conrad are excellent examples, and it was quite legitimate in my
opinion for Achebe to come along and challenge the canonical status of
_Heart of Darkness_ on the grounds he did and from the perspective he
was coming from, for that novel's status *was* partly founded on a
thoroughly uncritical acceptance of Conrad's racism therein, however
well-meaning or unintended that racism might have been. Rousseauism and
the romantic stereotype of the 'noble savage' are stereotypes, and can
be as 'negative' and discriminatory and potentially harmfully as
others."

Quite true.  I don't advocate a massive overhaul of the classic status
of literature, but the "shortcomings" can be pointed out without
affecting the appreciation of the works.  Being honest and thorough
about extra-textual events makes for great introductory essays, even
for relatively modern works.  However, the banning or demotion of _Huck
Finn_ or Conrad or Faulkner based upon racial sensitivity would do a
great disservice to literature.  Even in stand-up comedy, the outrage
at even mentioning a racial pejorative - I'm thinking here of the
recent flap over the Sarah Silverman jury duty joke - has gotten a
little too much.

What TP does, in _MD_ especially, is poke us with a pointy stick here
and there in this regard.  The book seems very like a book whose PC
shortcomings can be excused somewhat (that is, old), but was published
well after the author would have been aware that there might be some
sensitivity problems, yet he lays it out fairly unabashedly.  Even
more, the joke told by Dixon about the Jesuit, the Corsican, and the
Chinaman gets Mason indignant ("-People are staring. *Sailors* are
staring." 16.6,7).  This pokes fun at those who might be indignant
about some of the stereotypical realism that is, of course, necessary
in the fictional retelling of M & D's saga.

Michael

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone.
http://phone.yahoo.com