“Given the chance, we would resist classification. I have never met a writer who wishes to be described as a female writer, gay writer, black writer, Asian writer or African writer. We hyphenated writers complain about the privilege accorded to the white male writer, he who dominates the western canon and is the only one called simply ‘writer’.”
Tag: 02.13.15
New Opera Boss’s First Decision: Fire Wagner’s Great-Granddaughter
When Darío Lopérfido took over last week at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the very first change he made in the house’s program was to cancel the contract of Katharina Wagner – great-granddaughter of the composer and director of the Bayreuth Festival – to direct Parsifal in December. His stated reason: “I wanted something artistically stronger.” (in Spanish)
Charles Dutoit On His Career, Leaving Montreal, And Music Today
“Of course, I miss a lot of the musicians in Montreal. What happened there, you know, I made one mistake: I never answered the attacks from the union. One has to understand the context. When they signed the contract, I was completely on the side of these people. I even was wearing a shirt to help them to get more money, and I was quite close to the premier ministre, and so on.”
How Post-Modernism Changed Pop Music
“Whatever you think of the radical relativism of postmodern cultural theory—and I detest it—the fact is that the coming of postmodernism has proved to be both liberating and stimulating to musicians of all kinds.”
“American Sniper” As American Rorschach Test
J. Hoberman: “While American Sniper has drawn a large and diverse audience there is no consensus as to what the movie means. Rush Limbaugh hailed it as’an extension of the November elections’ … Jane Fonda saw it as a movie about the psychic cost of war … The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has reported a spike in anti-Arab threats. A French journalist contacted me … to see if I thought the movie’s unexpected popularity was a response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.”
Why Do People Keep Taking Naked Selfies At Angkor?
“In less than a month, the Kingdom has kicked out seven foreigners for public nudity, including two American sisters and three French tourists who, in separate cases, disrobed at different ancient temples in the Siem Reap complex and posed for pictures.”
E-Readers Allow You To Read 50 Shades Of Grey Privately – Except For That Huge Company Monitoring Everything You Do On Your Kindle
“Amazon knows more about your Kindle reading than the clerk in that bookstore in the next town, more than your librarian, and in fact more than anyone has ever known about how we read.”
Sorry, Literary Fiction Establishment: Fantasy Is Excellent For The Brain
“The research suggests fantasy stories — or at least those good enough to hold our interest — produce neural reactions that are above and beyond those created by other narratives — even ones that are just as exciting, involving, or humorous.”
Australian Teenager Wins The Prix de Lausanne
“‘It’s weird to think at 16 I will be on the other side of the world, living by myself and cooking and cleaning and washing up,’ says Lee. ‘It’s scary, but it’s what I’ve been training for.'”
The First Writer From North Africa To Be Elected To The Academie Française Has Died
“In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro in 2005, [Assia] Djebar reflected on her status as a female author in the Arab world. ‘I am not a symbol,’ she said. ‘My only activity consists of writing.'”