Tracking the ever-elusive Great American Novel

[jbor at bigpond.com]

On 24/05/2006, at 7:58 AM, MalignD at aol.com wrote:

> << And those words were? We still don't know, because the report we 
> got  was
> that Toni Morrison (an African American women) complained that the 
> Venus de
> Milo was a misogynist work while labouring under the mistaken  belief 
> that it
> was created without arms. You found it "a funny story"  >>
>
> If it's true, and I have no idea regarding its truth, it is a funny 
> story
> about Toni Morrision.  But not therefore about African American Woman. 
>  Isn't
> equating one with the other -- individual with group -- a little ... 
> racist?
> Sexist?

Sure it'd be funny story if it were accurate. But if it isn't accurate, 
which seems likely enough, then how come it's getting the mileage? I 
mean, it does make her seem ridiculous. That was what it was intended 
to do, isn't it?

Most complainants about Morrison and her work in this thread have been 
careful to say that they'd say the same if it were anyone, Bono or an 
albino on steroids, for example. I'm not saying that they wouldn't. 
However, because Morrison's work is explicitly about "correcting the 
record", as you yourself note, then it's important that we're clear 
about which "record" it is that she's trying to correct.

The comment (not yours, note) that "there's a percentage of those who 
get caught up with the fact that she's black and female and fail to 
make an honest judgement based on her written text alone" runs both 
ways.

best