i wonder what racism would look like if not what
naipaul has written over all these years; he has
consistently constructed the most derogatory
images of africas, of dark skinned peoples in the
caribbean and in india. he writes as a brahmin, a
superior civilized being, who points out the
barbarism of those who have not attained what he considers civilization.
he does so by constructing characters whose
failings are linked to their skin color,
consistently, over and over, from the early writings down to the later ones.
i repeat my question, if he is not racist, if his
characterizations are not racist, what would racism look like?
ken
At 08:40 AM 8/30/2010, you wrote:
>I have not yet read Naipaul's latest but from the comments on this
>page and the Guardian's review, my expectations are great:
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/29/vs-naipaul-masque-of-africa-review
>
> Jonathan Franzen may write with the principle in mind, that “The
>reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.†- and perhaps
>this is also Naipual's operative approach, since we can tell by his
>book sales that he does have a very large and appreciative readership.
>Is it safe to conclude then that he panders to the appetite and
>expectations of his faithful fans/readers who want some more of the
>same or must we credit him with being absolutely faithful to his own
>experience, his own perceptions, like the true literary artist and
>essayist he is?
>
>Or is there no such thing?
>
>I remember in 2001, when it was announced that V.S. had been awarded
>the Nobel Prize in Literature. I called up two friends, one a great
>intellectual from Guadeloupe and the other from Jamaica, to
>congratulate them They both said exactly the same thing, one
>word:†Collie-man†, which is a Carribean's derogatory description of an
>Indian. Naipaul had already pissed them off.
>
>In as far as biographical heresy can be applied to throw light on Mr.
>Naipaul's literary output, Paul Theroux's “Sir Vidia's Shadow†has
>given the most unkindest cut of all.
>
>Paul Theroux should know. Had Sir Vidia written his ( Theroux's) “
>Fong and the Indians†someone would have seen racism in the depiction
>of Africans in that novel and perhaps cried, where I laughed at what I
>thought was funny
>
>Whether it is with V.S.'s “An Area of Darkness†- written about his
>visit to his ancestral India, or his post-Salman Rushdie “Among the
>Believers†about Islam and Islamists or the much referred to and in my
>opinion innocuous “ A Bend in The River†one of Naipaul's functions
>then is to prick us to some critical self-examination as Lord Ikhide
>has just done. And for that should Naipaul - or his brother Shiva
>Naipaul ( North of South†) be blighted?
>
>Professor Harrow sounds remarkably like my dear Dr. Valentine Ojo when
>he says what he says about V..S: Naipaul.
>
>Perhaps, if Naipual had been Black instead of Brown, African, instead
>of an Indian British Lord examining other cultures from the
>perspective of a higher (the standards of Western Civilisation), and
>seeing Africa and India through the lens of his higher culture, we
>would not be accusing him of racism.
>
>What then would we be accusing him on the basis of his written woord?
>Arrogance?
>The sort of cynicism that Evelyn Waugh has been accused of?
>What?
>I pause for a reply.
>
>
>On Aug 29, 10:07Â pm, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meoch...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Naipaul is irredeemable, a lost cause. The man cannot even cultivate and
> > sustain personal relationships with his
> literary peers, crossing people left
> > and right and telling them to "take it in the cheek like a man." He can't
> > help himself in his role as a "Third World" advocate of Eucentric, racist
> > universalism.
> >
> > The man deserves more pity than engagement.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 12:10 PM, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
> > > Â naipaul is one of the great racist writers of our time. a bend in the
> > > river evokes every negative stereotype
> about africans imaginable; his cover?
> > > 1. he is "third world" 2.mobuto's reign, and before it, lumumba's, was
> > > regarded by naipaul's kind of readers and editors as uncivilized.
> > > uncivilized means non-british, non-european, savage etc etc
> > > naipaul is the true exemplar of ox-cam british snobbism and racism toward
> > > africa, and the rest of the third world. really
> > > ken harrow
> >
> > > At 11:36 AM 8/29/2010, you wrote:
> >
> > > ----- Forwarded Message ----
> > > *From:* Errol Harry <errolharr...@yahoo.com>
> > > *Sent:* Sun, August 29, 2010 6:16:07 PM
> > > *Subject:* Naipaul's latest book on Africa
> >
> > > *The Masque of Africa by V S Naipaul: review*
> >
> > > *Sameer Rahim is puzzled by the ageing
> Nobel Prize winner’s punishing
> > > quest to expose Africa̢۪s religious illusions *
>*
> >
> > > By Sameer Rahim
> > > Published: 5:19PM BST 27 Aug 2010
> >
> > > Â
> Comments<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7966020/The-Masque-of-Africa...>
> > > [image: The Masque of Africa by V S Naipaul]
> > > The Masque of Africa by V S Naipaul
> >
> > > V S Naipaul̢۪s father was once forced to
> sacrificfice a goat to the Hindu
> > > goddess Kali. In June 1933, when Vidia was
> still a baby, Seepersad Naipaul
> > > had written an article in the *Trinidad Guardian* criticising Hindu
> > > farmers who ignored government regulations
> and inoculated their cattle with
> > > religious rites.
> >
> > > His angry opponents threatened him with a poisoning curse unless he
> > > appeased the goddess. He refused at first but soon relented: wearing
> > > trousers rather than the traditional loincloth (his small rebellion), he
> > > offered up a severed goat̢۪s head on a brass platlate.
> >
> > > In that Sunday̢۪s paper he was all
> bluster: Ã: “Mr Naipaul greets you! No
>
> > > Poison last night†. But this “great
> eat humiliation†, as his son wrote in
> > > *Finding the Centre* (1984), destroyed his life. He lost his job and sunk
> > > into depression. According to Naipaul̢۪s
> mother, r, “He looked in the mirror
>
> > > one day and couldn’t see himself. And he began tn to scream.â€
> >
> > > Over the course of his long writing career,
> V S °S Naipaul’s view of
>f
> > > religion has moved much like this story
> from om thethe potentially comic to
> > > the outright sinister. His first published
> novel, *The Mystic Masseur *(1957),
> > > was a satire on a fake pundit. In his
> masterpiece *A House for Mr Biswas*(1961) the
> title character (based on Seepersad) is expelled from his
> > > training as a Hindu priest when he pollutes some sacred flowers with his
> > > excrement. His travel book on India, *An Area of Darkness* (1964), took a
> > > harsher view of Hinduism and the caste
> system and after 1970, when he first
> > > learnt about his father̢۪s ritual
> humiliation (th(the family had kept it an
> > > absolute secret), his work took on an unforgiving tone.
> >
> > > *Among the Believers* (1981) and *Beyond Belief* (1998) blamed the
> > > problems in Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan exclusively on Islam.
> > > Third World peoples who refused to abandon
> their ancestral illusions for the
> > > civilised and secular values of the West
> as Naipaul has so ccconspicuously
> > > done are, he believes, condemned to backwardness.
> >
> > > Now he has travelled to six countries
> Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria,, the Ivory
> > > Coast, Gabon and South Africa to discover the â€â‚¬œœnature of African
> > > belief†. *The Masque of Africa* starts in Kampala, the ccapital of
> > > Uganda, where Naipaul immediately observes a conflict between the native
> > > religion, offering “only the world of
> the spirits a and the ancestors†,
> > > and the foreign religions (Islam and Christianity) whose new places of
> > > worship on the city̢۪s hills are like
> ââ“an applied and contagious illness,
> > > curing nothing, giving no final answers…
> fighting wrong battless, narrowing
> > > the mind†. He doess not visit these
> mosques and churchess; a view from the
> > > foothills is enough.
> >
> > > When Naipaul does visit somewhere his observations can be acute. At the
> > > shrine of Mutesa I of Buganda, the
> 19th-century ruler who had dealings with
> > > John Speke and Henry Stanley, he feels a
> “sense of f wonder†. But nearby
> > > he notices a boy tormenting a small kitten; he protests but his guide
> > > assures him the boy is just playing. “I
> didnâ’t believe him,†Naipaul
>aul
> > > says. Back in the hotel, he discovers that
> nine men were sacrificed at the
> > > shrine during its construction.
> >
> > > For a brief moment he allowed himself to see through the eyes of the
> > > faithful, before widening his vision to
> examine what they chose not to see.
> >
> > > Naipaul has always been able to spot a
> fraud, and the best writing in this
> > > book deals with native healers and fortune-tellers. In Uganda he enters a
> > > small office and spots a framed certificate on the wall: the witch doctor
> > > has an official licence so that “no
> believer need f feel ashamed†. In
> > > Nigeria he teases a fortune-teller by asking whether or not his daughter
> > > will get married (Naipaul has no children). The man replies that she is
> > > cursed and that only a fee will release
> her. “But w what he’s told me is
>s
> > > good,†says a straight-faced Naipaul.
> â€Å‚¬Å"I don’t want the girl to get
>t
> > > married.â€
> >
> > > He shows a touching sympathy for animals: tormented kittens are a running
> > > theme, along with mistreated horses and
> hunted bush animals (the forest is
> > > “like a free supermarket, open to
> everyoneââ¢â‚¬ ). When he finds a house in
> > > Ghana with well-treated pets, he softens:
> “I began n to be prejudiced in
> > > favour of the house.â€
> >
> > > But mostly Naipaul comes across here as
> tired and tetchy, complaining about
> > > being overcharged by his guides and the bad
> hotels (â€ÅÅ"the broken safe, the
> > > dusty refrigerator†). From his car
> window he sees childrren walking home
> > > from school in Uganda and comments, in what seems like a parody of
> > > Naipaulian pessimism, that “education and school ununiforms, giving an
> > > illusion of possibility, was easy; much
> harder was the creation of a proper
> > > economy†. We learn that the
> “Nigeriaerian mindset … resisted rationalityâ€
>¬
> > > and that Chinese logging companies are motivated by a ‬œhatred of the
> > > earth†.
> >
> > > The one humorous moment in the book is marred by self-pity and a
> > > predictable dig at the locals. On the way to see some ancestral bones in
> > > Gabon, his “nervy, frail†legs give
> wve way and he falls to the ground. His
> > > guide brings a wheelbarrow. “But it was
> an African n job, heavily rusted,
> > > and not sturdy, sagging below my weight
> when, leaning back far too much, I
> > > tried unsuccessfully to sit in it.â€
> >
> > > It is puzzling why Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, at the age of 78,
> > > continues to punish himself with such
> travels. Perhaps, like his father, he
> > > is worried about what he sees when he looks
> in the mirror. Is he the Nobel
> > > Prize-winning sage who has written 30
> acclaimed books over 50 years? Or is
> > > he a fraud, pretending to be a country
> gentleman in Wiltshire when his true
> > > home is among the wretched of the earth? He has seen through superstition
> > > and religion; he has exposed political
> idealism and racial nationalism. But
> > > his scepticism is so entrenched that his work is now cleansed of humour,
> > > imagination and human sympathy.
> >
> > > The final line of *The Masque of Africa* claims that in post-apartheid
> > > South Africa “a resolution is not really
> possible u until the people who
> > > wish to impose themselves on Africa violate some essential part of their
> > > being†. Naipaul’s imposing
> achievchievement has violated an essential part of
> > > his being. There is something deeply sad
> about watching him in the African
> > > forest, a wounded animal, looking for a
> final vindication of his own painful
> > > journey.
> > > Â The Masque of Africa: Glimpses of African
> Belief<http://books.telegraph.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780330...>by
> V S Naipaul
> >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> > > Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola,
> University of Texas at Austin.
> > > For current archives, visit
> > >http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> > > For previous archives, visit
> > >http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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> >
> > > Â Kenneth W. Harrow
> > > Distinguished Professor of English
> > > Michigan State University
> > > har...@msu.edu
> > > 517 803-8839
> > > fax 517 353 3755
> >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> > > Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola,
> University of Texas at Austin.
> > > For current archives, visit
> > >http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> > > For previous archives, visit
> > >http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
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> >
> > --
> > There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
> > greed.
> >
> > ---Mohandas Ghandi
>
>--
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Kenneth W. Harrow
Distinguished Professor of English
Michigan State University
harrow@msu.edu
517 803-8839
fax 517 353 3755
--
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