And so I begin my Joanna Russ journey
And so today, I begin my Joanna Russ journey with How to Suppress Women's Writing and I pull out this excerpt from her introduction, which nicely responds to the comment I reacted to in yesterday's blog post:
If certain people are not supposed to have the ability to produce "great" literature, and if this supposition is one of the means used to keep such people in their place, the ideal situation (socially speaking) is one in which such people are prevented from producing any literature at all. But a formal prohibition tends to give the game away ...
In a nominally egalitarian society the ideal situation (socially speaking) is one in which members of the "wrong" group have the freedom to engage in literature (or equally significant activities) and yet do not do so, thus proving that they can't. But alas, give them the least real freedom and they will do it. The trick thus becomes to make the freedom as nominal a freedom as possible and then - since some of the so-and-so's will do it anyway - develop various strategies for ignoring, condemning, or belittling the artistic works that result. If properly done, these strategies result in a social situation in which the "wrong" people are (supposedly) free to commit literature, art, or whatever, but very few do, and those who do (it seems) do it badly, so we can all go home to lunch.
- Joanna Russ, How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983)
If certain people are not supposed to have the ability to produce "great" literature, and if this supposition is one of the means used to keep such people in their place, the ideal situation (socially speaking) is one in which such people are prevented from producing any literature at all. But a formal prohibition tends to give the game away ...
In a nominally egalitarian society the ideal situation (socially speaking) is one in which members of the "wrong" group have the freedom to engage in literature (or equally significant activities) and yet do not do so, thus proving that they can't. But alas, give them the least real freedom and they will do it. The trick thus becomes to make the freedom as nominal a freedom as possible and then - since some of the so-and-so's will do it anyway - develop various strategies for ignoring, condemning, or belittling the artistic works that result. If properly done, these strategies result in a social situation in which the "wrong" people are (supposedly) free to commit literature, art, or whatever, but very few do, and those who do (it seems) do it badly, so we can all go home to lunch.
- Joanna Russ, How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983)