alik-vit
Reader
I found it in her collection "Nobody's Home", absolutely amazing book, by the way.
Nobel Prize in Literature 1971
- Thread starter Marba
- Start date
nagisa
Spiky member
Don't own this so uuuuuuuh "found" it online (in German!) to read her thoughts. Thx v much to you and @Benny Profane for the reference
tiganeasca
Moderator
Without inquiring too closely, is there a link you can share with curious minds?
alik-vit
Reader
The essay by Dubravka Ugresic is available here:
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tiganeasca
Moderator
I find the essay by Ugrešić to be not only thin-skinned but guilty of ethnic stereotyping just like the NYT article she writes about. As an example, she starts with a lengthy excursus on the Eurovision Song Contest and observes that "And as far as the actual music is concerned, one expects the Turks to bring something of their oriental musical kitsch..."! Her arrogance about pop music is also more than a little offensive. I'm not a fan but I find her ridicule misplaced, particularly given the substance of the article.
She spends much of the remainder of the article complaining that she (and other Balkan writers) are pigeonholed by virtue of their nationality: "...if someone comes from the Balkans, he, or she, is not expected to perform literary competence in front of us, but to conform to the stereotype which we have about them, the Balkans, or about the places where all of them come from." She seems completely and unaccountably ignorant of the fact that this is the way the world is (I'm not defending it but simply saying this is what it is).
She seems completely and remarkably oblivious to the fact that this is hardly an idiocy limited to writers from the Balkans. It applies to everyone equally. French writers "represent" France and things believed to be French by their non-native audience and that is just as true for American writers, Swedish writers, Japanese writers, Russian writers, and so on. Preconceptions and prejudices exist everywhere on earth and every non-native audience brings those things to writers from elsewhere. Why she is so remarkably (to me) thin-skinned about this and believes that only Balkan (or Eastern/Central European writers) are singled out for this is completely beyond me.
She spends much of the remainder of the article complaining that she (and other Balkan writers) are pigeonholed by virtue of their nationality: "...if someone comes from the Balkans, he, or she, is not expected to perform literary competence in front of us, but to conform to the stereotype which we have about them, the Balkans, or about the places where all of them come from." She seems completely and unaccountably ignorant of the fact that this is the way the world is (I'm not defending it but simply saying this is what it is).
She seems completely and remarkably oblivious to the fact that this is hardly an idiocy limited to writers from the Balkans. It applies to everyone equally. French writers "represent" France and things believed to be French by their non-native audience and that is just as true for American writers, Swedish writers, Japanese writers, Russian writers, and so on. Preconceptions and prejudices exist everywhere on earth and every non-native audience brings those things to writers from elsewhere. Why she is so remarkably (to me) thin-skinned about this and believes that only Balkan (or Eastern/Central European writers) are singled out for this is completely beyond me.
Leseratte
Well-known member
Thanks, Alik!
alik-vit
Reader
can we repeat our favorite experiment with man on the street in working class area? And two music records? I think, "oriental music kitsch" will receive the label "Turkish group"... And I think she writes not about pop music, but about public image of pop music in the context of European cultural policy.
There is part about Joydeep Roy Bhattachataya too. It's long one and situated in the middle of essay. So, she is not singled out Balkan writers, I think. She uses it like case study, which was topical then, in the connection with expanding of EU on these territories.
tiganeasca
Moderator
Even if we can repeat our experiment and get results where the man on the street agrees with her does not make her comments any less objectionable. She objects to stereotyping of Balkan writers and then proceeds to do exactly the same thing. She cannot have it both ways: if the Drubnik article is wrong (and it is), so is she.
I agree that she is not writing about pop music but about its image. I find it a somewhat odd argument given her true (and legitimate) complaint. But I do think that she is singling out Balkan writers. The essay includes other things, certainly. And the illustration using Bhattacharya (which is at the very end of the essay) seems to me to be only an example, an illustration.
alik-vit
Reader
Sorry, it was my mistake. I didn't check out link. In the book this article is expanded. There is one more part "The gray zone of literature".
nagisa
Spiky member
Why? Well, because of the Yugoslav wars, I surmise... If she never considered herself a Croat, it must have been doubly traumatic to have this identity thrust upon her, let alone be expected to speak for it.
But I agree: there is more than a little obliviousness and thin-skinnedness in her analysis.
Ben Jackson
Well-known member
Going through some of the writers shortlisted for this year, I found out that I haven't read Andre Malraux. Apart from Man's Fate, can you guys recommend any other work of his?
As for the choice of Neruda, I think he was deserving, though it'll be a very tough choice between choosing Montale and Auden, two great poets.
It's funny reading the decision of the committee. I think they bypassed his political beliefs (a Stalinist), in favour of his pioneering achievements in Latin American poetry. I don't think it's because of political beliefs that Borges lost the Nobel, I guess it's because of his aesthetics.
As for the choice of Neruda, I think he was deserving, though it'll be a very tough choice between choosing Montale and Auden, two great poets.
It's funny reading the decision of the committee. I think they bypassed his political beliefs (a Stalinist), in favour of his pioneering achievements in Latin American poetry. I don't think it's because of political beliefs that Borges lost the Nobel, I guess it's because of his aesthetics.
Leseratte
Well-known member
So do I, Ben. I think, Neruda´s work was more accessible to readers in general. Borges is a hard nut to crack.
redhead
Blahblahblah
Funny, I’ve been meaning to check out more of his work for the last few weeks. I’ll be curious to see what others think of his work.
I thought The Way of Kings was a good read, though a bit dated. I’ve also heard good things about his Anti-memoirs.