i am a fan
どういう風に生きてきて、何を考えてるのか知りたい知りたい、と思う。
実はこないだオバマキャンペーンにシェリルクロウとかジョンメイヤーとか
その他ミュージシャンの曲を集めたCD をダウンロードしたんですが、
それを聞いてて"We Are the World, We Are the Children"を思い出してちょっと不安になった。
もちろんマケイン氏になるのは最低最悪なのでオバマ氏に勝って欲しいけども
90年代の盲目的なリベラリズムも困るなあ、と、、
でもThe Audacity of Hopeってちょっと素敵なタイトルですよね。
ちょっと日本語にうまく訳せない感じです。『希望という名の失敬』かな。
Audacityという言葉は、あまりいい言葉ではない。
「なんていうずうずうしさ！」みたいなことを言うときに使うことが多いです。
”The audacity!”みたいな感じで。ちょっと見下す感じもありますね。階級的に。
憤慨したオバサマ方が「まぁッ」とか言って扇子ぱたぱたしながら使いそうな。
どこから来てるんだろう、このイメージ？
で、いかにもお高くとまったレパブリカンも使いそう。
まだ読んでないけど、オバマ氏自身、そういうことを言われたのかもしれない。
でも、厚かましくみえるかもしれないけど、それは本当は『希望』の姿なんだ！
とか言われると、きゃあ、素敵、などと思う。
それを厚かましさととるようなひとたちが急に窮屈な感じに見えてくる。
人間、本当はいろんなことを良くとりたい、と思ってるんじゃないかな。
その方が気持ちいいから。
Bordersでは3番目の売れ行きだそうです。
re: multicultural lit
From: KG
Sent: Tue 10/21/2008 10:35 PM
To: watermarke girl
Subject: Multicultural Lit
Hi Prof. M-
I'm having some trouble getting my thoughts organized in my paper when I actually started writing it. I was wondering
if you could give me some thoughts on the ideas I'm trying to work with, and see if you can shed some light on a way
to organize it. The two novels that stood out most to me were Lolita and Tar Baby, and I'd really like to discuss
those two in my paper. The ideas I'm trying to work in are that the similarities in the couples in each novel were
eventually diminished by incompatible culture and standards in race and age. What I'm trying to say is:
- Humbert Humbert and Lolita were both in a sense mentally immature, in that even if H.H. was book smart and good
with language, he was just as easily manipulated and immature as his youthful counterpart. They were both bound
together by manipulation (basically). These two were driven apart by society's standards regarding age and both
became outsiders in their own age group.
- Jadine and Son were both driven and in a sense stubborn people of the same race, bound together by love. Like H.H.
and Lolita, I want to compare how the two were driven apart by society's standards in race and both are seen as
outsiders within their own race (at least to each other).
If you have any tips on how I can make this clearer on paper, that would be fantastic. I'm trying to organize it and I
feel like I couldn't even explain it just now, haha. Basically, both couples in Tar Baby and Lolita were driven apart
by society's standards regarding age and race, and were subsequently turned into outsiders, each in their own way.
Thanks for any help!!!
KG
From: watermarke girl
Sent: Tue 10/22/2008 12:43 PM
To: KG
Subject: Re: Multicultural Lit
Hi K,
These ideas are great. Your paper can be simplified if you think less about what drives these characters
apart and more on what brings them together. Your thoughts on Lolita is very strong, so I would go with that. In your
paper, you'll need to show me an example(s) of H.H. and L's immaturity, and explain how their immaturity create a desire
to manipulate or to be manipulated. Then, direct me towards a scene in which we can clearly see this dynamic being
played out, where their childishness draws them to each other. Explain which expressions in the passage
signal lack of maturity to you in a scene where we see their attraction to each other. Here, you might
discuss the way H.H's immaturity is masked by language but he's just as much of a child in the scene.
My suggestion is to keep this frame in focus when you think about Tar Baby. Can't we also see Jadine and Son as
being somewhat immature characters who are drawn to each other because of that? I recall that they're both described
as orphans, which is an image of a child rather than an adult with family tragedy. Also, at times Son thinks Jadine
is childish, and at other times Jadine thinks Son is childish. You mention stubbornness of the characters-- isn't
there room to think of that as an indication that they're immature on some level? You say that their "outsider"
status connects them despite their initial distaste for each other. I agree with you that it isn't really race that
connects them (they just belong to it, not much else) but are drawn to each other from something more complicated
and internal, probably their feelings of lonesomeness and isolation in recognizing themselves as an "outsider."
But isn't that feeling of being an "outsider" itself also somewhat caused by (or an indication of) a kind of
childishness, stubbornness or immaturity? In your paper, you can point me towards a passage where we see that they
connect because they understand each other's feeling of lonesomeness and isolation. (I can't help but think about the
story Son tells Jadine about the star that dropped out of the sky, how much Morrison's image reverberates with
how lonely/ insignificant they feel themselves to be. It has that "bedtime stories" feel to it that makes
Jadine seem childlike and innocent... but I'm sure other scenes will work as well).
I would conclude the paper by thinking about the way that while their immaturity may draw these couples
together, that immaturity is also the reason why these couples can't be together in the end. You might discuss
what it is that these relationships lack and what these writers can tell you about the true meaning of maturity.
Hope this helps!
再スタート
好きな仕事してるし、アメリカに住んでるのは性格にあっているのだけれども、
やはり日本語って楽なんですよね。好きなんですね、日本語が。
日々の雑感を文章にする作業もとても自分の一部になっているんです。
で、東京やシャーロッツヴィルにいる大事なお友達なんかとも話せるし、
だからブログを書いてるわけですが、アメリカ人の友人に読まれたくなかったりする。
L.A. Vie en Orangeは結構気に入ってたんですが、最近つきあっているBF（アメリカ人）が
どういうわけだか探し出しちゃったりして、BABELFISHとかで一生懸命読もうとしたりして。
Googleではひっかからないように気をつけてたんですが、私のPCのブックマークからわかっちゃった。
ヨーダ状態になった自分の文章なんて読んで欲しくないから、「やめて～」って言っても、読んじゃう。
しかも、政治的な見解が全然違うので、勝手に怒ったりする。読まなきゃいいじゃん！
あなたに話してるんじゃないのよ！
私の生活に興味を持っていただけるのは嬉しいんですけど、やっぱり嫌！
ということで、違うスペースで再スタート。
またよろしくお願いします。