am I reading what I'm reading
14 Jul 2011 03:27 pmThere were several issues with Paper Butterfly (Diane Wei Liang), one being that the voice was rather dry and distant, the other being that it couldn't seem to keep my attention. The reason for losing my attention, though, wasn't from the book but from my reaction, and I'm still trying to put my finger on it.
A few weeks ago or so, I recall linking to this essay [thx to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
soukup!] that discussed -- well, lots of things but this was one of the sub-themes -- the issue of works written for the insider group and works written for an outsider group. A significant point was that of the texts mentioned, some of them (which had been highly lauded in the West) were stuffed to the brim with a certain kind of sell-out, catering, mindset. The intended audience was clearly Western, and that audience's viewpoint was valorized over the insider/non-Western view.
( That's fuzzy, but it's a jumping-off point into a critique of Paper Butterfly, and why I stopped reading. )
A few weeks ago or so, I recall linking to this essay [thx to
soukup!] that discussed -- well, lots of things but this was one of the sub-themes -- the issue of works written for the insider group and works written for an outsider group. A significant point was that of the texts mentioned, some of them (which had been highly lauded in the West) were stuffed to the brim with a certain kind of sell-out, catering, mindset. The intended audience was clearly Western, and that audience's viewpoint was valorized over the insider/non-Western view. ( That's fuzzy, but it's a jumping-off point into a critique of Paper Butterfly, and why I stopped reading. )