First, John Timpane's piece about Aleaxander McCall Smith: Author rooted in 2 continents, inspired by an African woman.
Second, Jonathan Storm's piece about HBO's adaption of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency: Jonathan Storm: A gem from Africa.
Monday, March 30, 2009
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Timpane's piece includes the following: "Some critics - largely Western and U.S. academic critics, predictably uneasy that a man with white skin (albeit an African-born man) would write African characters and create an African viewpoint - have called Smith's books condescending or patronizing." Academic critics may be uneasy, but (as someone working within that environment I can say that) too many of those guys and gals are so preoccupied with political correctness, gender issues, and post-colonial claptrap that they cannot see the falacy of their complaint. According to the cited uneasiness, white authors must write only about white characters, black characters must focus only on black characters, Hispanics better not write about gringoes, gays and lesbians must never write about heterosexuals, women certainly are not qualified to write about men, and--when carried to its logical extreme--only children should write children's books. The bottom line is this: a short story, novel, play, or poem is either well written or it isn't, and the author's race, gender, sexual preference, religion, age, politics, and other personal identifiers should hardly ever into the critique.
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