Posted by Mark Adams on February 08, 1999 at 16:48:33:
In Reply to: Why I Think Farnham's Freehold Is Racist posted by Terry on February 08, 1999 at 14:32:09:
Ouch. I'll have to take issue with the hints that Vance
borders on racism, because of the content of _The Grey Prince_.
This assessment either indicates failure to identify the
'message' in _The Grey Prince_, or simply that the politically
correct 'multiculturalism' perspective has been successfully
inculcated.
Vance's inspiration for _The Grey Prince_ was probably (then)
current events in Africa (Rhodesia?) - so by the yardstick used
below, his viewpoint might be considered 'racist'. However, I
think Vance was articulating a series of quandaries presented
by the outcome of technology-rich groups encountering
technology-poor (or weaker) cultures. I think Vance's most
strongly emphazised point was that history of a geography shows 'culture a' being replaced/defeated by 'culture b', who in turn
is replaced/defeated by 'culture c'. Which group has the right
to the geography - 'culture c' who currently has the most
technology & power, 'culture b' who has the most recent claim
of unfair displacement and discrimination, or 'culture a' who
was the earliest known inhabitant and arguably has the
strongest claim on the land?
This was "the great joke", in _The Grey Prince_, was it not?
Weren't the perceived "pets" of the idealistic, do-gooders in
the city actually the early, prior inhabitants? Didn't they
also have a claim on the real-estate, which they attempted to
enforce with brutal, devious surprise attack?
I think it might also be argued that there were some sub-themes
in this novel, including the fact that 'Jorjol(?)', who was The
Grey Prince, was not entirely motivated by idealism (unless
hatred & jealousy are ideals) - but took advantage of others
who were idealists ...
These are tough issues - when looking at the conquest and
mistreatment of indigenous natives in the Americas - one could
argue that the European settlers 'should have' stayed the
hell away and left the Native-Americans with their land and
their culture.
Another might also argue that the European expansion into the
Western hemisphere added value overall to the well-being of the
human race, and although the process could have been handled
with more moral approach, it was positive overall. Certainly all parties can probably agree that Bad Things have happened between groups throughout the world, and entire nations & cultures have been wiped out needlessly. This trend doesn't seem to be confined to any specific sub-entity within the Human
Race, however.
Vance, more than any of my favorite writers, tries to portray
human nature as he sees it. AND, he often tries to reveal
irony and contradiction within the doctrine of the self-
righteous idealogues of all stripes. Funny how that can be
praised as brilliant, or decried as racist, depending on the
current manifestation of P.C. thought.
MarkA.
: GC,
: And it just turned out in _FF_ that all the good guys were white and all the bad guys were black and lording over the poor whites in a future Africa which has escaped anhilation. They weren't just antagonists, but evil and evil in ways that made me think of Jim Crow. Very nasty types - lazy, pushy, unredemebly bad. No respect for the characters at all. In fact as an aside the greatness of literature is the respect an author has for all his/her characters.
: Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but it was personally embarassing to me to read my favorite author writing what, to may mind at least, was the most palpably racist, charicatures of blacks. Some evil daydream of a white racist put on paper in the name of a great author. I thought it quite sad.
: Vance, on the other hand, skates close to racism in _The Grey Prince_ which at least abstracts the problem to another planet and another society. If the prince were black and the country were South Africa, say, I'd lay the charge on Vance as well.
: Vance has always had a Eurocentric viewpoint which is fine by me and especially fine when the villains are Dirdir or other alien races. When villains become humans of a different racial type (but not black) I'm made uneasy by that narrow distinction, but can give credit to a fine author of an earlier sensibility.
: I'm trying to remember black people in Vance and can come up with only a couple - believe in Slaves of the Klau there's a black jazz band (here's what saves Vance from stepping over the line I think, his obvious love of jazz that is rooted in the black soul/experience). Also believe that in Take My Face there is a visit to a Bohemian neighborhood in San Francisco with black jazz musicians there. Anyone care to add to this list of black people in Vance?
: Anyway, I thought that Heinlein's book was indefensible, but I'm willing to cut Vance slack on the subject. You are welcome to your opinion, but I was in pain after finishing _FF_.
: Terry