... despite its edgy tone and the strong undercurrent of violence, The Fire Next Time is ultimately a hopeful and healing essay. Baldwin ranges far in these hundred pages--from a memoir of his abortive teenage religious awakening in Harlem (an interesting commentary on his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain) to a disturbing encounter with Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad. But what binds it all together is the eloquence, intimacy, and controlled urgency of the voice. Baldwin clearly paid in sweat and shame for every word in this text. What's incredible is that he managed to keep his cool. --David Laskin
Is in necessary in your opinion for an African-American writer to keep his or her cool? Why? Please elaborate just a bit on this so that hopefully there can be a fully fleshed out discussion on the topic. I’m very interested in whether you think he is possibly too cool (calm, collected) or too fiery. More questions forthcoming.
About Me
- Sheryl
- Bio: Sheryl Luna won the inaugural Andres Montoya Poetry Prize for emerging Latino/a poets, and her first collection Pity the Drowned Horses was published by University of Notre Dame Press in 2005. Her second collection, SEVEN, was published in 2013 by 3: A Taos Press. She has received fellowships at Ragdale, Yaddo and the Anderson Center. She also received the 2008 Alfredo del Moral Foundation award, funded by Sandra Cisneros. Poems have appeared in Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Amherst Review and others. She is also a Canto Mundo fellow.
17 comments:
While I don't think that it is absolutely imperative for authors to "keep their cool" I do feel that a calm and collected argument offers a sense of validity and cohesiveness that a "rant," even if intelligible and coherent, cannot. When an author is able to look at many sides of the issue in his or her writing, which Baldwin does, as he describes how he is town between religions, values and viewpoints, the reader is more likely to consider them in the same multifaceted way that promotes careful analysis and, ultimately, can create awareness and change. At one point, Baldwin says, "I knew the tension in me between love and power, between pain and rage, and the curious, the grinding way I remained extended between these poles--perpetually attempting to choose the better rather than the worse." Baldwin struggles with the tumult of varying emotions, yet expresses them with the poise and elegance combined with force and conviction that creates an effective style of writing.
Not to cop out of the question, but I think he got his tone dead on. Early on he essentially damns whites for acting innocent (5-6), but he does it in a way that lets the reader digest his commentary instead of recoiling from it (assuming here that this audience is white). As an overall impression, I think the tone is more cool than fiery; their isn't much inflammatory in the way he says things. But at the same time, he certainly isn't pulling his philosphical punches.
James Baldwin's essay is neither excessively cool nor a firey, irrational attack. Instead, he manages to use his emotions and individual experiences to fuel a wrenching and provacative assault on racial hate of all forms. To say that an African-American needs to keep their cool when discussing race relations essentially ignores the basis of such issues. There is nothing 'cool' about slavery, intolerance, lynching, or racial violence, nor is there anything logical about these phenomenons. Emotional rhetoric is necessary to combat these issues. For me, Baldwin effectively uses his anger, sadness, and literary skill to create empathy within his readers. "The Fire Next Time" was one of the most powerful essays I have read from the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, any white person claiming that an African-American's writing is unfairly playing on white shame must first acknowledge that some shame must exist before such a statement can be true. Without this shame, angry African-American writers could easily be written off as lunatics. Besides, I think there is quite a lot of value to be found in irrational, erratic, vengeful writing as it illustrates a side to human nature that is fairly omnipresent.
What instantaneously caught my attention about the phrasing of this question is the way in which it is constructed, seemingly intending to suggest that the African-American writer should be distinguished from the ‘other’ writer when embarking on any discussion of their work. Whilst I do not wish to get entwined into this argument as to whether or not all writers and their works should be treated in the same identical manner, I thought that it was an interesting side note to begin with; even in our contemporary day we apparently still deem it necessary to retain such a distinction in our discussions.
This aside, I believe that James Baldwin ultimately ‘dips and dives’ in his work, crossing from a cool, collected stance one minute, to a somewhat more enraged, fiery stance the next. For me personally, it is through this manner that he ensures that he will reach out to as many readers as possible. Whether one responds more emphatically to calm, organized arguments or confrontational accusations is fundamentally down to the individual reader. Baldwin thus simply utilizes his powers of writing to gain as wider audience as possible, recognizing that the larger his audience is, the more hope he has of imparting his message in one form or another. To achieve this however, he understands that he cannot come across as either too over-bearing or too laidback; thus, despite seeming to want to take certain arguments further, whilst keeping others under tighter wraps, he has to find a delicate balancing ground in order that his work be allowed the greatest possible chance of success. Ultimately, this suggests to me that Baldwin himself is less responsible for the content and style of his work than are his intended receivers.
I think he maintains the perfect demeaner throughout the essay. Losing your cool can be far less effective on an emotionally charged subject. I think Baldwin knows how to utilize a cool and collected tone to extend his argument to people that would otherwise refrain from reading it. If someone on the opposite side of his argument were to read his, it is much more probable that they could finish it. If his argument was full of rage and accusations it would be less likely for someone to read it
Laura McGregor
I think he maintains the perfect demeaner throughout the essay. Losing your cool can be far less effective on an emotionally charged subject. I think Baldwin knows how to utilize a cool and collected tone to extend his argument to people that would otherwise refrain from reading it. If someone on the opposite side of his argument were to read his, it is much more probable that they could finish it. If his argument was full of rage and accusations it would be less likely for someone to read it
Laura McGregor
By no means do I think it necessary for an African-American writer to "keep his cool." In some situations the opposite is required. That being said, I think Baldwin does a very good job of balancing his intensity. In many ways, I feel that "Go Tell it on the Mountain" was written with a more fiery prose. This is accomplished in my mind because that was a novel, as opposed to the essay form of "The Fire Next Time." Baldwin commments on his encounter with Elijah Muhammed and seems to think he is a bit heated, so in that sense I think it is necessary for Baldwin to keep a calm tone, to allow the reader to subjectively digest the information that has been presented more or less objectively.
I think Baldwin is completely entitled to everything he says, and I think he expresses it well, sternly but without violent aggression. He attempts to state the drastic state of the race relations without losing any potential audiences.
I agree with Baldwin on almost every point he makes (even from a modern perspective). In fact, the only part of the text I found weak was a couple of instances that displayed patriarchal undertones. For the most part Baldwin endorsed equality between the sexes, but there are a few undertones of patriarchal values. For example, on page 98 where Baldwin writes: “This past, the Negro’s past, of rope, fire, torture, castration, infanticide, rape; death and humiliation; fear by day and night, fear as deep as the marrow of the bone….” All this reflects the harshness of “the Negro’s past.” On one hand woman are implicitly included with the reference to “rape.” However, he later states in the same list “sorrow for his women.” Thus the “Negro” of “the Negro’s past” seems to be a male. Why not women’s sorrow instead of “sorrow for his women”? Women, then seem relegated to the periphery, and Baldwin seems to adopt a phallogocentric viewpoint—the male as normal. Furthermore, the phrase “his women” suggests a sense of ownership.
I do not think it necessary for African American writers to keep their cool more than anyone else. As far as Baldwin is concerned his essay is full of his opinions and beliefs and are a result of his life and experiences. I believe he writes from his truth which is valid and interesting for that very fact.
I believe that writing is an open expressions of a person inner feelings, and those feelings can be fiery or they could be cool, but what ever they maybe they should be expressed accordingly. So, if an African American writer feels a fiery sensation and needs to get it out they should be able to freely. For too, long as a society we have in some way censored the African American culture, and for them to sensors themselves would be a travesty.
Baldwin’s essay and truculent voice hopefully provoked people, especially white people, to listen. He talks about healing oneself where “Negroes in this country and Negroes do not, strictly or legally speaking, exist in any other are taught really to despise themselves from the moment their eyes open on the world. This world is white and they are black.” He spoke out on colonialism and now the black man is a commodity in a capitalist world, economic imperialism. The 14 amendment was to protect the rights of freed slaves, but in 1886 the court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the US constitution, freedom of speech, etc… As a black woman/man I would be angered too. Excellent illustration of what it is like for African-Americans, metaphysics.
Baldwin’s essay and truculent voice hopefully provoked people, especially white people, to listen. He talks about healing oneself where “Negroes in this country and Negroes do not, strictly or legally speaking, exist in any other are taught really to despise themselves from the moment their eyes open on the world. This world is white and they are black.” He spoke out on colonialism and now the black man is a commodity in a capitalist world, economic imperialism. The 14 amendment was to protect the rights of freed slaves, but in 1886 the court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the US constitution, freedom of speech, etc… As a black woman/man I would be angered too. Excellent illustration of what it is like for African-Americans, metaphysics.
Yes, I believe it is very necessary for an African-American writer to remain calm and collected. This is a very difficult task as Baldwin’s description of his encounter with a white waitress in which he allows his anger to surface in an uncontrollable fashion demonstrates, but it is a necessary one. Baldwin becomes apologetic after this encounter and ashamed, but more importantly he helped reinforce some of the stereotypes that white people held of blacks during that time period. After all as Baldwin points out, “life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.” This outlook can give the reader the impression of disconnectedness, but this would be a false perception. One would only need to look at the experiences that shaped Baldwin to realize he was very much connected with and targeted by white racists, but in order to be heard by a universal audience a writer can not be consumed by a passionate hate. The writer must look at all angles and describe the big picture.
Baldwin’s essay and truculent voice hopefully provoked people, especially white people, to listen. He talks about healing oneself where “Negroes in this country and Negroes do not, strictly or legally speaking, exist in any other are taught really to despise themselves from the moment their eyes open on the world. This world is white and they are black.” He spoke out on colonialism and now the black man is a commodity in a capitalist world, economic imperialism. The 14 amendment was to protect the rights of freed slaves, but in 1886 the court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the US constitution, freedom of speech, etc… As a black woman/man I would be angered too. Excellent illustration of what it is like for African-Americans, metaphysics.
An author does not have to keep cool, but many African American writers find themselves held to a double standard; they must at once be -I apologize in advance for all my annoying quotation marks - "passionate" without being deemed too "aggressive" or "angry." This is why White America has embraced the even keeled personalities of Martin Luther King Jr., Alan Keyes, etc, but Malcolm X is "too radical" and Jesse Jackson is "too obstinate." Baldwin's tone is appropriate, I think, and he does well at treading the thin line between what blacks call passion and whites call anger. He describes this as a "tension." As for those who criticize his supposed coolness, I feel that they miss the point by focusing on his tone and not his subject matter. How can one be cool about injustice, about bigotry? To do so would not be 'coolness,' it would be inexcusable apathy and cowardice.
-Laura Rogers
ps. sorry for the delay, I couldn't figure out how to post on here.
Is in necessary in your opinion for an African-American writer to keep his or her cool? Why? As African-American writers, I think it is imperative to keep their cool, but also as all writers. The only leaders who came across as angry or over-enthusiastic twindle out much more easily. Although a spirit of intesity moves people to action. Calm writers often have a much longer movement due to reason and judgement that is clearly thought through and defined. People are attracted to this judgement for the long haul because they know that calm leaders are often in it for the long haul. Over zealous writers want action now. That type of action is not so much progressive as calm writers.
Congratulations! Our selection committee compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 Chicano Blogs, and yours was included! Check it out at http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/Chicano
You can claim your Top 100 Blogs Award Badge at http://thedailyreviewer.com/pages/badges
Cheers!
Post a Comment