May 2, 2023·edited May 2, 2023Liked by Noah Berlatsky
One of the frustrations of teaching high school English to suburban students were not infrequent misreadings of literature by students who had a culture-bound expectation of, if not a happy ending, some form of hope from authors who were resolute in not providing it in their stories we read, such as Arundhati Roy and Edwidge Danticat, who are also vigorous change-agents. Less patient with sitting in discomfort, IMO, are many adult readers of non-fiction, who should have a better sense that any one story is not the whole story, and that highlighting an issue with nuance should be valued above finding pat "solutions" or conclusions.
that's really interesting! I feel like there are some high profile bleak stories around now (Barry, Succession) but...I think the audience for those is actually pretty limited. Like they get a lot of commentary, but the actual viewership is not that large and perhaps doesn't really change cultural expectations that much...
There’s a long held confidence in the idea that hope wins elections (Reagan, Clinton, and Obama as examples). The Democrats have aligned themselves with that strategy and the Republicans keep doubling down on the opposite - fear and anger. One side seems to be winning, and is thoroughly energised to up the ante of scaremongering. If we all respond with paralysis (bc, no hope) we are lost for generations.
Republicans offer their voters hope too—hope in crushing their enemies mostly, but it's still a kind of hope for sure. Fascism's vision of a pure nation with marginalized people eliminated is definitely meant as a utopia.
I think you do need to offer a message of hope if you're a politician. I don't think it's reasonable to demand that everyone always act like a politician though.
One of the frustrations of teaching high school English to suburban students were not infrequent misreadings of literature by students who had a culture-bound expectation of, if not a happy ending, some form of hope from authors who were resolute in not providing it in their stories we read, such as Arundhati Roy and Edwidge Danticat, who are also vigorous change-agents. Less patient with sitting in discomfort, IMO, are many adult readers of non-fiction, who should have a better sense that any one story is not the whole story, and that highlighting an issue with nuance should be valued above finding pat "solutions" or conclusions.
that's really interesting! I feel like there are some high profile bleak stories around now (Barry, Succession) but...I think the audience for those is actually pretty limited. Like they get a lot of commentary, but the actual viewership is not that large and perhaps doesn't really change cultural expectations that much...
There’s a long held confidence in the idea that hope wins elections (Reagan, Clinton, and Obama as examples). The Democrats have aligned themselves with that strategy and the Republicans keep doubling down on the opposite - fear and anger. One side seems to be winning, and is thoroughly energised to up the ante of scaremongering. If we all respond with paralysis (bc, no hope) we are lost for generations.
Republicans offer their voters hope too—hope in crushing their enemies mostly, but it's still a kind of hope for sure. Fascism's vision of a pure nation with marginalized people eliminated is definitely meant as a utopia.
I think you do need to offer a message of hope if you're a politician. I don't think it's reasonable to demand that everyone always act like a politician though.