File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1996/96-02-20.131, message 82


Date: 	Wed, 17 Jan 1996 21:02:55 -1000
From: Antonio L Rappa <antonior-AT-hawaii.edu>
Subject: Re: Immigrant Travelogues




this "inversion" of yours merely leads back to the common conventionality 
that continues to dominate literature. in other words, it is rather old 
hat. alright, i find such explanations boring. but of course i might 
be mistaken.

On Wed, 17 Jan 1996, Ernest Stromberg wrote:

> I actually would describe this inversely: there are no "non-fictional" 
> narratives as all narratives rely on metaphor and the imaginative 
> techniques of imaginative writing or fiction. This makes all truth claims 
> or texts aspiring to the designation "non-fiction" subject to the same 
> interpretive claims applied to fiction.
> Ernest 
> 
> On Tue, 16 Jan 1996, Antonio L Rappa wrote:
> 
> > One suggestion that might aid, or perhaps subvert, your project at the 
> > onset is to realize that there are no fictional texts, all texts are 
> > non-fictional. So in this case, Naipaul's An Islamic Journey would be as
> >                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > appropriate as any other travelogue. We do not have to look very hard at 
> > the language to see that he distances himself from the local Malaysians by 
> > playing the part of a(n English) foreigner. But of course he is not 
> > merely playing the part, but living it.
> > 
> > With best wishes from Honolulu
> > 
> > Antonio Rappa
> > Dept of Political Science
> > University of Hawaii at Manoa
> > 
> > 
> >      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> > 
> 
> 
>      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> 




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