RE: RE: RARA-AVIS: Re: Those were the days (was Creationism vs. Evolution (was Once more...)

From: billha@ionet.net
Date: 07 Sep 2000


Eddie H. makes some good points in his graphs.

"Nigger" means differently when a black man uses it on another black man. When a black man uses it on a "white dude," I suppose it's grudging acceptance or ultimate putdown, depending on the tone and expression of the speaker. Lot of what we've been dancing around recently has to do with whether we're going to be offended by an author who uses the words or seems to give out the attitude through his characters.

The author doesn't matter so much to me. I enjoy or don't enjoy the fiction, and don't usually give a damn about an author until I've decided on his or her fiction. Then maybe I'll read a biography.

Eddie's examples from Willeford seem to indicate we agree on approach anyway. If characters or dialogue or action seem overly formulated, or manufactured because they're repeated, it is a shortcoming in the fiction. An author driven by prejudice ends up producing second rate work, seems to me.

Generalizing at 1 a.m.,

bill hagen billha@ionet.net

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