Ive been giving a lot of thought to this subject recently, not merely with regard to Lovecraft but other authors of the late Victorian and first half of the twentieth century, particularly those of genre fiction, who blithely incorporated elements of egregious racism and bigotry into their work. The debate tends to be divided between those who believe we should overlook their faults, place the work and instead celebrate the positive attributes of these writers as great proponents of their craft. Or alternatively, those who take the more principled stance that racism is never acceptable irrespective of historical context. Despite my racial background (being half Trinidadian and having experienced racism on numerous occasions, ironically usually through the idiots mistaking my ethnicity) I lean towards the more tolerant school of thought. It impoverishes our understanding of literary history by relegating important authors to the margins on account of their anachronistic views and whitewashes (for want of a term without connotations) the social and political milieu from which it originated. Not only does it do a disservice to the important contributions these writers made but also their contemporaries of a more progressive disposition, i.e. those still deemed ideologically acceptable, as we chose to ignore the fact there was ever a counterpoint. The result is a facile portrayal of history. Lately Ive been developing an interest in the work of Edgar Wallace - who very much falls into the unfashionable category, with casual xenophobia aplenty - and pondering whether it was possible to translate his stories into a modern setting. I also have an ongoing fascination with Richard Marshs supernatural novel The Beetle, which in its day sold more copies than Dracula but which has never been adapted for screen due in no small part to its archaic depiction of the Oriental and has been completely forgotten by most. Whats struck me is that there are two ways of adapting these stories: either completely subordinate and eliminate the racial elements and retaining only the bare bones of the narrative. Alternatively, and more audaciously, one might seek to confront the racism head on in a way interrogates the original text, at times turn it on its head, and invites intelligent debate. To me, this is a more tantalising and exciting possibility.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 11:21:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015