Ewe words for "firefly", "vampire", and "demon"?

ambasaurus
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Re: Ewe words for "firefly", "vampire", and "demon"?

Postby ambasaurus » 2014-01-06, 0:14

You said, "It still can't help but affect your attitudes and behaviour, don't you think?" My answer was no.

I have to say, this conversation is starting to irritate me. Somehow I can’t imagine anyone is going to be personally offended if I write about a firefly causing disease in a city.

I never said those authors weren’t criticized for their writing - all authors are criticized for everything they write. Writing is a form of art. It's self-expression. There's people who will love Tolkien's writing and people who hate it, just like there are people who love the work of Vincent van Gogh and there's people who hate it. I don’t know about you, but if I dislike a book or a writer, I choose not to read their work. They have every right to write however they choose, but I don’t have to read it if I dislike it for any reason. As I mentioned earlier, nobody sees my writing, so I’m my biggest critic. Should my writing magically publish itself someday, I’m sure it would be criticized. If not for containing elements of mythology, I’m sure it would be criticized for something else. Criticisms only mean that you can’t please everybody. Self-expression never pleases everyone.

johnklepac wrote:
My favorite part of the article is that the author acknowledges the rifts between her own culture and African-based ones and handles them as she expects her readers to. I'm really sick of this "all non-white groups can appropriate from one another and it's fine, but Miley Cyrus twerking is incredibly disrespectful" view that's fashionable nowadays.


I thought Johnklepac’s comment hit the nail on the head. Would we even be having this conversation if I had asked about Norse, Celtic, or Greek mythology?

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linguoboy
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Re: Ewe words for "firefly", "vampire", and "demon"?

Postby linguoboy » 2014-01-06, 1:34

ambasaurus wrote:You said, "It still can't help but affect your attitudes and behaviour, don't you think?" My answer was no.

And I believe it's a sincere answer while simultaneously doubting its truth value.

ambasaurus wrote:I don’t know about you, but if I dislike a book or a writer, I choose not to read their work.

Unless I derive no pleasure from it at all, I prefer to engage with it critically. I enjoy Tolkien's work, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the flaws in it. I can enjoy the stories while, for instance, simultaneously deploring the near total absence of women from them.

ambasaurus wrote:I thought Johnklepac’s comment hit the nail on the head. Would we even be having this conversation if I had asked about Norse, Celtic, or Greek mythology?

You might just want to go back and read the article I linked to; it addresses exactly this question.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

ambasaurus
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Re: Ewe words for "firefly", "vampire", and "demon"?

Postby ambasaurus » 2014-01-08, 0:58

I've already read and re-read the article you posted where the author did exactly what you think is culturally disrespectful. Maybe you should write an article explaining why you think non-whites can address each other's cultures, but it's disrespectful when whites do the same thing. Until then, I'm done with this conversation because it's just going around in circles. Have a good night.


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