tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post8424295784499537607..comments2024-01-26T20:41:02.065+13:00Comments on Quote Unquote: The AUP Anthology of New Zealand LiteratureStephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-68003674789684280962012-12-30T13:32:17.998+13:002012-12-30T13:32:17.998+13:00@ Denis, same to you. Relax, Barry gets his five p...@ Denis, same to you. Relax, Barry gets his five pages in the sun. From "Hang on a Minute Mate".<br /><br />@Max 24/12, I did know that about the piano. Wasn't questioning whether there were pianos, just the implication that immigrants brought pianos with them as standard baggage. They didn't. I wonder if that piano was intended for a brothel at Kororareka. I hope so, but more likely it was for a mission. Do you know?<br /><br />@Max, 29/12. yes, whatever the editors may say, anthologies are seen as normative especially when they come from a major university press. And it's not a question of cultural impact - that's a slippery slope if ever there was - but of "literature". If it was billed as "a broad-spectrum drench of some interesting NZ writing over the years" one wouldn't mind. Re Stead, I think anyone with the faintest interest in NZ literature would have read some of his fiction, probably a lot of it. As you and I have.Stephen Stratfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-19667828206600725032012-12-29T23:05:00.823+13:002012-12-29T23:05:00.823+13:00Anthologies are seen as "normative"? Go...Anthologies are seen as "normative"? Golly. I thought it was something to do with the editors thinking that particular texts were representative, or distinctive, or thematically appropriate. If they're going to be, well, a ranking exercise, then clearly they should be subject to vote, or at least to a fair hearing procedure for those considered unworthy of inclusion. Or perhaps a contested appointment procedure, with a panel of worthy experts? Or a series of Waka Toi-funded lunches? Or, perhaps, normativity isn't the word so much as "potential to harm one's sense of entitlement as a published author in a very small country" - undoubtedly there's a German word for it.<br /><br />And, as for whether the vaunted Edmonds (or Te Tiriti or, well, who really gives a ...) belongs here, if it is a question of cultural impact, then you'd have to offset how many people have actually read much, say, Stead.Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10880825662497839829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-92019256506064637822012-12-25T16:10:40.335+13:002012-12-25T16:10:40.335+13:00Does Max have all the answers to his own questions...Does Max have all the answers to his own questions? Yes. Are they to the point and correct? No. Is a tramp stamp an interesting cultural artifact? Yes. Does it belong in an anthology of literature? No. Does the Edmonds Cook Book belong in an anthology of literature, ahead of, say...literature? Not in my opinion. Does it matter? Yes, when anthologies in NZ are still seen as normative. How do we know they are seen as normative? Because of all the fuss about them from people who can't get over themselves. Looking at the way Max likes to make scones, should he write a cookbook? I'll leave that one open to the floor...Ian Richardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-127948431691026022012-12-24T23:52:08.421+13:002012-12-24T23:52:08.421+13:00Oh, do get over it (and, possibly if not asking th...Oh, do get over it (and, possibly if not asking the unrealistic, yourself). These authors made a selection, as, well, anthologists do. Are any anthologies ever beyond reproach? No. Do I buy them? Hardly ever. Is there any point to this sort of public self-fascination by the omitted authors? No. And:<br /><br />(i) the first piano recorded as arriving in New Zealand was a Broadwood grand on board the schooner Herald unloaded at Pahia in 1827. Sorry.<br /><br />(ii) if Ian thinks the Edmonds Cook Book isn't some kind of cultural artifact, then he doesn't have a very interesting view of culture. For my part, I'd use the latest C K Stead (and I'm a fan, or was) to fuel a griddle scone any day.Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10880825662497839829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-76468624694255681702012-12-24T10:55:18.992+13:002012-12-24T10:55:18.992+13:00Merry Christmas. Happy reading and a Happy Noo Yea...Merry Christmas. Happy reading and a Happy Noo Year.<br />Oh, I don't suppose Saint Barry Crump made it into the anthology. If not I am sure this will be addressed in the next one.Denisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-29824435263219253782012-12-23T19:56:18.382+13:002012-12-23T19:56:18.382+13:00Thanks Stephanie and Ian. Yes, it must be insultin...Thanks Stephanie and Ian. Yes, it must be insulting to be excluded so that trivia can be included. And yes, there is too much good material in all these genres to be served by one dead-tree anthology. <br /> Stephen Stratfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-19151358123130935422012-12-23T16:23:12.101+13:002012-12-23T16:23:12.101+13:00Good review, Stephen. It's inevitable that th...Good review, Stephen. It's inevitable that there will be complaints about who's left out, but to be left out when the Edmonds Cook Book is in, to be, say, an aspiring Maori writer passed over in favour of the Treaty of Waitangi... Well, that's just insulting. If the anthology proves anything, it's that NZ lit is now too large and diverse to be put between covers.Ian Richardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-48021947860912983492012-12-23T10:47:54.992+13:002012-12-23T10:47:54.992+13:00Astute analysis, as ever. Thank you.Astute analysis, as ever. Thank you.Stephanienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-60405208663375257652012-12-22T22:04:47.768+13:002012-12-22T22:04:47.768+13:00@Anonymous 8:19pm,, quite right, Jean Watson is th...@Anonymous 8:19pm,, quite right, Jean Watson is there pp 499-509, from Standing in the Rain. I didn't spot it. Good that she is there. Might have been helpful/useful/interesting for the editors to note who the character Abungus was based on. Another contributor; NZy degrees of separation. Stephen Stratfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-70661861883405320292012-12-22T21:18:56.450+13:002012-12-22T21:18:56.450+13:00Great stuff. Small correction: Jean Watson is in t...Great stuff. Small correction: Jean Watson is in there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-19077199246592644972012-12-22T20:18:54.150+13:002012-12-22T20:18:54.150+13:00Excellent breakdown, but what about what is there ...Excellent breakdown, but what about what is there - what statement do they make, what contradictions. While as you say with so many it is "too soon to tell" i do agree about Edmond. Academics can ook to him and see where clarity meets intelligence and imagination. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com