> Man, reading must be an awful chore for you. No joy, no simple story, no mere entertainment-- everything must be scrutinized for its evil political content.
No I love reading. It is not a chore, but I do think binary you set up is incorrect: simple pleasure of reading vs. critical reading. To me it is analagous to the binary opposition of bucolic country life vs. cosmopolitan city life. It is a mistaken reduction intended to discredit one of the terms of the binary (in this case critical reading).
I read for plot and the sheer love of words, but I am also aware of the subtextual content of a text. Being aware of the latter does not in anyway diminish the enjoyment of the former. I still read Dickens and Balzac, but I also know that some of the attitudes they express are products of their elite status as straight white males.
> Sounds like literary theory to me. Frightens students, keeps'em compliant, and directs their attention to literary malfeasances and the condemnation of writers rather than the elites.
Is there something wrong with literary theory? I have found that it empowers the young people I mentor. They are not frightened at all. It makes them aware of the racial/sexual subtexts to works that are promulgated as "classics." It also empowers them to speak in their own voice through rap, hip-hop and other media.
My young people are constantly bombarded with images of whiteness as being the norm and that which should be striven for and valued. These images are the product of a white, mostly male, elite. Tolkien wrote out of a position of privileged whiteness. He was a member of the elite of his time. Recognizing this does not diminsh the pleasures of his storytelling ability. It is up to each reader to decide if she wants to look more deeply and see the subtextual messages Tolkein (either consciously or unconsciously) incorporated in his text.
Elites come in many varieties: economic, racial, sexual, gendered, etc. In my opinion, the more you make people aware of how these various elites operate and tranmit their propaganda, the better able they will be to combat them.
Finally, I do not think that racialist attitudes and subtexts can be equated with "literary malfeasances." These textual elements are much more pernicious and damaging than that.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister