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Thank you @salesses for writing 'Craft in the Real World' @CatapultStory. It articulated so many things that I’ve been thinking about for a while now, that I’ve been uncomfortable with but unable to put into words- about writing, craft and what it is to be a writer. A thread. 1/
How particular notions of the individual, agency + will are not only elements privileged in how we tell stories in the West but are themselves indicative of a position of privilege, because these ideas of the self have filtered across the globe thru imperialism + colonialism. 2/
“Craft is a certain worldview” rather than a neutral technique of how to write well. How it both expresses + perpetuates a certain way of being in the world which is never universal but often pretends to be (emphasising human agency, focus on psychological interiority etc 3/
“What we call craft is in fact nothing more or less than a set of expectations…These expectations are never neutral. They represent the values of the culturally dominant population.” In other words, how craft is always *ideological* 4/
But then “good writing” is judged through these normative cultural expectations + values that are deemed universal.
This also relates to ideas of how the writer should be:
“Individualism does not free one from cultural expectations; it is a cultural expectation.” YES!! 5/
This also relates to ideas of how the writer should be:
“Individualism does not free one from cultural expectations; it is a cultural expectation.” YES!! 5/
I find this conception of the ‘individual’ and ‘freedom’ particularly harmful when assumed to be universal- the idea that a writer is a free individual who writes only for herself, who has no responsibilities towards others in their writing. 6/
Not only is it an incredibly privileged position, it is also not the reality that many live or their way of being in the world, and therefore not the way they might write. But I hear this discourse so often. 7/
I love how this book decentres the assumption that human agency + will is universal. May I also suggest another book by anthropologist Saba Mahmood. This also blew my mind in how it pulled apart notions of the individual, agency, freedom + submission...8/
...through an ethnography of an Islamic women’s piety movement in Cairo, Egypt. 9/ https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691149806/politics-of-piety
I’m still reflecting on the distinction made in ‘Craft' not to equate “American” books with white + English-native, and how Asian-Ams lit are making their own traditions. But also thinking abt the global clout of the U.S publishing industry (that also includes Asian-Am lit)...10/
...and its relationship with other Asian diasporic/Asian lit. And of course, how this is related to wider unequal global relations. As a non-U.S Asian, but who often does U.S. workshops/engages with U.S lit (because it’s very hard not to), it’s something I think about often. 11/
But need more a lot more reflecting before I can write a twitter thread on it! Anyway, here’s a link to the book. Go get it! End/ https://books.catapult.co/products/craft-in-the-real-world-by-matthew-salesses
