APELC Class Notes
Second and fourth period, nothing different than your peers yesterday. Check their notes for objectives and details.
I talked briefly about the language of race we’ll be discussing soon as we enter the world of Malcolm X and this made me recall an article I came across recently: “Publisher Renames Joseph Conrad Classic The N-word of the Narcissus“. Political correctness gone mad?
Coincidentally, Chinua Achebe famously criticized Conrad in an essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness“ for his use of the word “nigger” in the book. Achebe has in turn been criticized (too easily, I think) for the same type political correctness referenced above, but I think that merely betrays an uncritical and uniformed ideological commitment to the traditional (that is, outmoded) preeminence of the Western canon. It’s this kind of high-minded literary self-indulgence (”I’m an artist, you see, so I have a certain license that allows me to express myself in ways that you, the vulgar, can not”) that I believe Achebe may have been railing against.
Finally, and only for those researching shamanism, the works of Carlos Casteneda would be worth looking into. The animists may even find his material useful.