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Sorely missed in Society Today… in art, public opinion/discourse, flavor of food, even our own thoughts. But it comes from careful consideration informed by contextual knowledge which is also not terribly common anymore
Jan 13, 2025
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đź”®
and that’s the problem, people sometimes lack the nuance that’s essential to well rounded critical thought and engagement. as an hbo prestige television enjoyer, i love a morally gray or even deplorable character as long as the subject material treats the character with the “don’t condemn OR condone” mentality. the same goes for literature imo.
its also largely dependent on the context in which the work is being taught (not so much when it was made bc “it was a different time” usually ends up adding fodder to frustrating arguments). for example, junior year of high school i found it really odd that my white teacher decided to use of mice and men to chastise the use of the n word, to a class of mainly black students. very weird and also not the point of the book (but she got better after this and instilled a lot of good stuff in my brain).
again, not to link this to the arts as a whole, but i feel the separating the art from the artist narrative exacerbates this as well. nothing is wrong with enjoying work from a morally dubious person but i think separating their art from their morals is a weird way of engaging with work. another example: a musician i really loved who was found out to have very off putting (borderline illegal) behavior towards women but from time to time i will play a song for old times sake. however when i listen, oftentimes i realize, yes these ARE the lyrics of a man who does not take rejection well. the work exists in the contexts of the authors morals but you aren’t and don’t need to be waving a flag saying “I CONDONE EVERYTHING IN THIS WORK”.
all in all, a huge key to engaging with classic lit critically is being comfortable with (not sure comfortable is the best term. familiar, maybe?) with gray area and be ready to navigate accordingly.
May 9, 2024
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it’s called being discerning and it’s a dying art….
Jan 30, 2024
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I’ve been working on trying to resist internet pile-ons, and not in a contarian for contrarian’s sake way. I think it’s more interesting to find out what’s actually happening and search for context and perspective. There’s usually a lot more to each story and it leads to more interesting ideas and conversations. Allowing for more empathy and forgiveness toward others also ultimately leads to more grace for yourself when you make a mistake. Sometimes people are jerks and sometimes people say the wrong thing and sometimes people run with something without understanding what someone is actually saying. I’m resolving to look for nuance first before assuming the worst.
Mar 20, 2024
Top Recs from @taterhole
It lends a reflective and wistful tone to written communications imo…
5d ago
My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌
Feb 23, 2025
May 28, 2025