Yes all right, but what on earth IS "political
correctness"? And what did it have to do with Kipling - did
I miss something when I unsubscribed over Christmas?
"Political correctness" is nothing to do with left-wing
ideologues but is the invention of people who actually want
to *avoid* political discussion. It's easy enough to sneer
at someone for being "pc" - harder to take on the argument
on a point-by-point basis. Unfortunately it does have its
appeal to the humourless and confused - within weeks
of the story about the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep"
being banned in a London playgroup (invented by the Daily
Mail) it was cited as a "fact" all over the place,
including some liberal sources who seemed to think that
because it was part of an attack on the left they ought to
defend it. Meanwhile whose who attacked racist jibes got
accused of being "politically correct". Yes, we have mildly
amusing jokes about short people being "vertically
challenged" but does anyone apart from people who tell
those jokes to each other actually use such terms?
Personally I have no problem with the fact that Kipling had
political viewpoints I am opposed to. It doesn't stop him
being one of the best writers of the century. In my
experience the lack of attention given to him has virtually
nothing to do with political correctness and more to do
with the fact that people - especially in America - find
him a "difficult" writer writing about times and places of
which they know little. To me, his allusiveness is one of
his most attractive qualities, but sadly, other people
don't seem to be prepared to put the work into
understanding an author. But don't get me onto peoples'
reading habits . . .
Though I really don't understand why one should NOT
politically disagree with a writer one admires for other
reasons. True, there's a certain political "air" about
Kipling which can get in the way of appreciating him, but
it has been created by people who admire him as much as
those who oppose him. Some of it's true, some if it isn't.
Or am I missing the point of this discussion which suddenly
appeared as what I could only describe as a political rant.
----------------------
Andy Sawyer Science Fiction
Librarian Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool Library
PO Box 123, Liverpool L69
3DA, UK.
Reviews Editor: Foundation: The International Review of
Science Fiction [log in to unmask]
The Science Fiction Foundation Collection webpage:
http://www.liv.ac.uk/~asawyer/sffchome.html
"... there is no higher life form than a librarian."
THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD: Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen,
and Ian Stewart, p. 10.
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