warning: flashing gif at the end I read this interesting article the other day from poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib, an interview with The Nation about his 2019 book exploring the work of A Tribe Called Quest. In it, he talks at length about being a critic, and how he feels that being a critic and being a fan are inextricably linked. For Abdurraqib, the experience and culture of fandom is just as worthy of being studied as the work fandom worships itself, and he’s very interested in interrogating fan expectations and reactions to work from artists they love.
Jen, I found your essay on "Making It Work" especially interesting. It reminded me of something I just read in the book my Sunday school class has been reading and discussing. Will Willimon is writing about the Bible, and he says: "One of the challenges of biblical interpretation is that the Bible contains a wide array of genre. We contemporary preachers of the Word marvel at the resourcefulness of these early communicators of the faith. They use poetry, myth, parable, genealogy, invective, hyperbole, and a host of other literary devices and conventions to communicate the truth about God. We do them a disservice when we apply inappropriate standards of interpretation to the literature that they employ."
Maybe that sounds like a far-fetched comparison, but you know what I mean, right? Like the Ice Planet Barbarians novels make it work in a different way than, say, "I Robot," Genesis makes it work in a different way than Ruth, and the Gospel of John makes it work in a different way than Hebrews.
The more I type, the crazier this sounds, so I'd better just stop here.
Jen, I found your essay on "Making It Work" especially interesting. It reminded me of something I just read in the book my Sunday school class has been reading and discussing. Will Willimon is writing about the Bible, and he says: "One of the challenges of biblical interpretation is that the Bible contains a wide array of genre. We contemporary preachers of the Word marvel at the resourcefulness of these early communicators of the faith. They use poetry, myth, parable, genealogy, invective, hyperbole, and a host of other literary devices and conventions to communicate the truth about God. We do them a disservice when we apply inappropriate standards of interpretation to the literature that they employ."
Maybe that sounds like a far-fetched comparison, but you know what I mean, right? Like the Ice Planet Barbarians novels make it work in a different way than, say, "I Robot," Genesis makes it work in a different way than Ruth, and the Gospel of John makes it work in a different way than Hebrews.
The more I type, the crazier this sounds, so I'd better just stop here.