[lbo-talk] RIP Norman Mailer

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Sun Nov 11 10:16:02 PST 2007


Dwayne Monroe wrote:
>
> Robert Wrubel wrote:
>
> Writers whose roots are not in the mainstream culture
> may still have a lot to say.
>
> ...............
>
> So people say, with a hopeful lilt in their voice.
>
> In practical terms, this works out to be, for example, a story about a
> Lagos family's angst instead of the dramatic goings on of a London or
> New York based clan.

There are occasional periods/places of extravagant achievement in one or more of the 'arts,' but periods of extravagantly low achievement are rare or non-existent in a 'progressive'* social order. *More or less equivalent to capitalism, which always grows or creates extravagant disasters, both of which encourage creativity. The concept of "decay" or "decadence" simply is relevant to capitalist societies. So those writers are around -- I don't know them, but I haven't been looking for them: slowdown of age plus other concerns.

Carrol



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