MCLC: Lupke on Mo Yan (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Bill Goldman (billgoldman at mac.com)
Subject: Lupke on Mo Yan (1)
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Christopher, I don't mean to be pedantic, but when you write that Ezra
Pound "...was a vicious, fascist, anti-Semite who worked actively and
tirelessly day and night to defame the Jewish people", I feel it necessary
to point out that at precisely the historical moment he was broadcasting
for the Axis powers he was also meeting with his friend Louis Zukowsky,
encouraging the latter and trying to help him in his career. Zukowsky, of
course, was very much a Jewish poet.

Moreover, if I may say so, if there were a writer brought to our
attention, who had done his work under the Nazi regime and had even joined
the Nazi Party, it would be not merely legitimate but as I see it
essential that we ask why he didn't stand up to the Nazis. If he or she
were to turn round and say that the Nazi censorship was good for writers,
and that he hadn't heard of there being many writers in gaol in Germany,
we would rightly question the value of his work. Or do you not agree?

Bill