Books

Taylor
  • Rated 1 stars

Ethnocentric! A white man's account of the Aboriginal experience. Too anthropological and too academic. A good thing to read to understand a white man's view of the "savages." This book is what's wrong when academia (white men) involves itself in qualifying other ways of life.

Taylor wrote this review Friday, July 27 2007. ( reply | view 2 replies | permalink )
  • Stephanie C

    stephanie c said:

    Haven't read this one, but similar charges were leveled at Chatwin about In Patagonia. I work in world affairs, made anthrolpolgy a course of study as an undergrad, and STILL counter that commenting on observations one makes from his/her own cultural perspective is not tantamount to "qualifying" or judging, but provides us with insight into the way we see the world. Even white men can comment. They also HAVE a culture. Somehow asserting that white men (i'm a white woman) are not permitted to comment on the world as they see it is like saying that they don't have a culture perspective. Which could be interpreted as one saying that theirs is somehow the STANDARD (ala Americans claiming the don't have a particular accent) and that other cultures are merely deviations from the standard.

    However, as I haven't read the book, maybe you could share one or more particular excerpts which support your comment?

    posted Wednesday, December 5 2007 ( | view 2 replies )
  • jjorj

    jjorj said:

    Hi Taylor,
    It was the first Chatwin I read, and I did that after hearing all the controversies regarding his accountability. Even with that judgmental mind, I found it as a brilliant read, with nothing much of a white man's bewilderment that I was afraid to see. Most part of the book seemed to me as unbiased reporting, in a very engaging manner. I believe it is necessary to understand the author to understand a book, as a book can only be the perspective of the author - fiction or non-fiction. In my case, a person who's born and brought up in India, I had to be conscious of the fact that it's a man, whose cultural background is alien to me, is writing about a culture that's alien to him. That helped a lot while reading, I guess. This book was written a decade after In Patagonia, and 7 years after The Viceroy of Ouidah, his most controversial works. And I think those years of traveling between the books has certainly helped him clear his world view.

    posted Tuesday, December 18 2007 ( | view 2 replies )
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