Aug
25
"When we talk about the writer's country we are liable to forget that no matter what particular country it is, it is inside as well as outside him. Art requires a delicate adjustment of the outer and inner worlds in such a way that, without changing their nature, they can be seen through each other. To know oneself is to know one's region. It is also to know the world, and it is also, paradoxically, a form of exile from that world. The writer's value is lost, both to himself and to his country, as soon as he ceases to see that country as a part of himself, and to know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility, and this is not a virtue conspicuous in any national character."Flannery O'Connor, The Fiction Writer and His Country, "Mystery and Manners"
The other afternoon, a man came into the bookshop looking for some recommendations for contemporary American authors. My colleague admitted that she's never all that aware of a writer's nationality when she reads, whereas I feel that I have always been overly conscious of this detail. (Unfortunately, my recreational though involuntary obsession did nothing to aid me in fulfilling his request. I find my wanderlust continually punishable in these ways.) For me, where they are writing from and under what context (as a native, an exile, an expatriate, etc.) really shapes the narrative voice.
Take "Lolita" -- though brief, H.H.'s flashbacks spoke as much, if not more, to me about the growth of his character as did his commentary on the landscapes of mid-America. This could have been a little forced on my part due to the fact that I wanted a French* novel to accompany my Parisian jaunt (and by choosing Nabokov over Balzac or Flaubert I certainly had my work cut out for me). But as an American living in Paris, I was granted a certain privilege in being disclosed the thoughts of a Frenchman living la vie sauvage in my home country.
*A relatively loose and highly-debatable adjective.
