There's a fraction of a good idea in his claim that a story doesn't really need conflict. Conflict is something that writing classes and books stress. And I do think that authors may lean too hard on it, when it's just one aspect of the story. You might be better off writing a first draft without thinking too much about conflict and change, and adding them later as needed.
But of course that's very different from abandoning them en masse, especially on a racial or cultural basis. "Decolonization" is something of an Orwellian term anyway.
2 comments:
On reading this essay the first thing that occurred to me was what about all the Nobel Prizes given to authors whose books were either written in English (it is the international language) or translated into English (a bigger audience)? I certainly haven't read more than a few, but enough to know that there's a very diverse group of authors who hold very different views. There are other international prizes for literature besides the Nobel - the Booker comes to mind.
Then again, perhaps I missed the essential point of Salesses' book. I get the idea there's something of a casual disregard for writers who aren't white males, like Hemingway's readers, for instance. There's room enough for all sorts of voices and stories and I thought that was broadly understood. That this is supposed to be some sort of instruction book for developing writers is unfortunate if true. The idea of cultural appropriation is a fairly new concept that would be better dismissed. The fact of the matter now is that there's already been so much cross cultural mixing it's next to impossible to determine where exactly a style might come from.
I liked that part near the end of the essay that described Salesses advocating for conflict when he'd spent the first half saying conflict wasn't necessary. He sounds a bit confused but then I'm an unlikely candidate for any writing workshop, never mind one overseen by an MFA.
I agree with you about decolonization and the author's mention of segregation being the logical consequence of saying only non-whites can judge (or enjoy?) the literature of another culture.
I very much agree that the concept of cultural appropriation is useless at best, and that actually trying to avoid cultural appropriation seems actively harmful. Cultures that don't get appropriated in someway are going to die and be forgotten, and it won't take long. As for new writers, there are things that it would be helpful for them to know, and disciplines that it might help to practice. This isn't one of them.
Don't feel bad that you're not going to be part of a writing workshop. Many people who have been through them are very bad. It's an idea that has spread because it lines the pockets of people in the education industry, not because it makes for better writers.
Segregation is bad and creative freedom is good. Not sure why this sis such a bitter pill to swallow.
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