Dr. Lester K. Spence » literature http://blacksmythe.com/blog The Future is Here Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:50:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Class Warfare in Black Lit and Theater http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2007/03/09/class-warfare-in-black-lit-and-theater/ http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2007/03/09/class-warfare-in-black-lit-and-theater/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2007 02:15:54 +0000 The Good Doctor http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2007/03/09/class-warfare-in-black-lit-and-theater/ Black people have always battled over their art. On the one hand you’ve got those who believe that Kenny G. or even Kirk Whalum shouldn’t hold a candle to Wynton Marsalis. And on the other you’ve got those who would claim with a straight face that Ice Cube is the next Hemingway.

A couple of recent posts deal with this dynamic.

First Mat Johnson.

Then a clip, courtesy of Prometheus 6 and Blackademics:

Click here to view the embedded video.

More after the break.

I can understand where both Mat and Larry are talking about. No art form can progress without people who are dedicated to the pursuit of it as opposed to loot, or simple entertainment. Reading the debate between Mat and Shamontiel Vaughn (a self-published author) I’m struck by the fact that Shamontiel doesn’t ONCE mention craft. Her entire post focuses on how much she’s put into marketing and selling her product. Similarly what strikes me about Tyler Perry is how much drive and hustle he exhibited in bringing his plays to life. Mat and Larry on the other hand appreciate the craft AS craft. Mat is concerned with being a better writer and generating literature that lasts, just as Larry is concerned with generating powerful black theater.

There’s a line in the classic movie Hollywood Shuffle that I think is appropriate here. “Hoes gotta eat too.” And I don’t mean this in a snide or sarcastic way–though I always crack up when I hear that line. Artists have to get in where they fit in. By definition all fiction can’t be literature, just as it isn’t possible to have an entire class of “above average students.” The question though is about room. If the resources spent on theater or literature are zero-sum, if for every book self-published by Shamontiel, Mat loses a couple of readers…this debate will become much more contentious. And yeah Tyler is going to have to create his own festival.

But if not? Then both sides can co-exist peacefully. (Doubt it!)

]]> http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2007/03/09/class-warfare-in-black-lit-and-theater/feed/ 13 Black Lit is for White People? http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2006/11/15/black-lit-is-for-white-people/ http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2006/11/15/black-lit-is-for-white-people/#comments Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:49:31 +0000 The Good Doctor http://blacksmythe.com/blog/2006/11/15/black-lit-is-for-white-people/ I’ve been reading Mat Johnson’s blog Niggerati.com since Tayari hipped me to it. In a recent post he tests whether Black Lit is for White People by looking at the type of black literature given prominent awards by mainstream literature critics. I’d like to know whether the tendency he identifies is one that occurs in non-black lit. It could be that there is a preference for historical literature in general.

But more importantly I think the librarian is wrong in her assumption. The reason why black people in general prefer black fiction to black literature is the same reason why Americans in general prefer fiction to literature. They are more interested in consuming disposable culture (paperbacks were designed to be literally thrown away after being read; it doesn’t take much of an intellect to figure out what “Who Ya Wit” is about) than they are in consuming “high art.” Do you know how many book clubs have fractured over the choice between reading Zane and reading something like The Untelling?

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