I'm sure this is what we had in mind when we first tackled so-
called "urban fiction." I'm definitely buying this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Noir-Mystery-Suspense-African-
American/dp/1605980579/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231602317&sr=1-
1
-Gonzalo.
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Kevin Burton Smith <kvnsmith@...>
wrote:
>
>
> On Jan 7, 2009, at 10:35 PM, rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> > Now Kevin, at least, you seem to be basing your judgements upon
> > actually
> > having read a few of these books, but are you reading them as
would
> > their target audience? Wouldn't these exaggerated, cliche,
> > stereotypical bad black men resonate differently in that different
> > cultural context? Basing my assumption more on friends I know who
are
> > big fans than any actual sales figures, isn't the primary
audience for
> > this genre black FEMALE? And isn't the emphasis (again, based on
chats
> > with fans, not having actually read them) of these books more on
the
> > black women who love men who have embraced these stereotypes than
on
> > the
> > men themselves? If so, it'd make perfect sense that the men would
be
> > exaggerated stereotypes, just as bad boys are exaggerated in all
chick
> > lit.
>
> I'm beginning to think you're right. Just as there's a
surprisingly
> large market for gay male erotica among women, so too does a lot
of
> this stuff seem to be aimed at the romance market -- or at least a
> very uncritical target audience. I think I was mislead by the
> settings, which had me hoping for some gut-level homegrown,
possibly
> hip-hop version of THE WIRE. I got Fabio in blackface instead.
>
> And yes, I'm fully aware of the echoes of previous cultural debates
in
> my gripes about urban fiction. But I want to make it clear -- I'm
not
> against the idea of this stuff (just like I wasn't against much of
the
> dumbed-down "neo-noir" stuff I railed against a while back) and I
> don't want it banned or, er, white washed. But I would like it to
be
> better written. And less impressed with its own existence.
>
> Even a cliché, in the right hands, can be an intriguing,
captivating
> character. But cardboard is cardboard, regardless of cultural
context.
>
> Plus, I still think "urban fiction" is one of the dumbest and most
> meaningless euphemisms I've heard since "African-American." Just
the
> other day, I heard a Fox announcer discussing African-Americans
who
> were born and grew up in Europe, apparently unaware of how
ridiculous
> he sounded.
>
> I dunno. Maybe this stuff will evolve, or more likely it will serve
as
> a training ground and its better writers will move on to bigger
and
> better things, just as lesbian pornmeisters like Westlake and
Block
> moved up to the big leagues.
>
>
> Kevin Burton Smith
> The Thrilling Detective Web Site
> New Issue Sort of Up
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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