Hi, Liz--in fairness to Matthew, we should remember that he made a
couple of appeals for any Welsh listees to come forward and speak
with the authority and expertise that he himself lacked (as he also
repeatedly acknowledged), since he's neither Welsh nor, by living
and working in Wales, in the position of an East Midlands Englishman
to evaluate and pronounce authoritatively upon Welsh culture. I'd be
inclined to credit him for his valiant efforts to counter the dubious
ethnocultural claims being made about his adopted country--and for
the good sense to seek some expert opinions from his colleagues in
Wales and to share them with us. I certainly found Chris Meredith's
post very interesting and informative, just as I did David Kennedy's
thoughtful review, in which he teased out an ambivalence of sorts
among Welsh poets toward their culture. Unless Matthew misquoted
either of the Davids, which no one has suggested he did, then there
wouldn't seem to have been any misrepresentation--so I can't see
anything wrong myself with his handling of the Matter of Wales.
Candice
>Matthew
>I understand and applaud the desire to get a Welsh perspective on Welsh
>writing. Very right and proper, though I wonder if it is a good idea to
>bring others into a dialogue when they don't know it's spirit and havent
>followed what has been said?
>Put into a new context words that were meant as exploration and response
>can change their hue.......
>Liz
|