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A follow-on to this: it& #39;s also fair to note that the "you definitely don& #39;t have to read everything," while meant to liberate folks from feeling like they must, is also advice that applies more to some folks than it does to others. https://twitter.com/LeeFlower/status/1290372899828883457">https://twitter.com/LeeFlower...
Folks who look and write like the folks who wrote the "classic" fiction we& #39;re all meant to read? They& #39;ve never had to read all of it. People don& #39;t quiz them. People just assume they& #39;ve done the reading, because they Obviously Belong.
Meanwhile I& #39;m writing a story about a telepathic detective right now, and I& #39;m on here saying "you don& #39;t have to read the classics" but you bet your ass I& #39;ve read The Demolished Man, multiple times, because I know I will be held to a different standard.
People will assume I haven& #39;t read "the classics." They will assume I& #39;m a Fake Geek Girl acting like I invented telepaths. Or else they& #39;ll assume on ripping off The Demolished Man because I couldn& #39;t possibly have an original idea of my own.
What& #39;s actually happening is, I& #39;m intentionally writing a response to it. I& #39;m critically engaging with it. I& #39;m critically engaging with Babylon 5& #39;s references to it.
But I know people won& #39;t assume that. They& #39;ll assume I haven& #39;t done the reading. I& #39;ll be quizzed.
But I know people won& #39;t assume that. They& #39;ll assume I haven& #39;t done the reading. I& #39;ll be quizzed.
So it might be more accurate to say that we *shouldn& #39;t* have to read all the old stuff. But the reality is that for some of us, if we& #39;re engaging with ideas that dead white guys got to first? We& #39;re gonna be quizzed.
Declining to take that quiz is absolutely an option. We should all have the right to say "Hey, Campbell is dead--carry his water if you want but I won& #39;t."
But studying so hard for that quiz that your self-appointed proctor looks ridiculous for even asking you is also an option.
But studying so hard for that quiz that your self-appointed proctor looks ridiculous for even asking you is also an option.
