Miki, you wrote: "Hmmm. I ponder Hal Bush's question about whether or not my double question
is valid."
Just to be clear: I do consider that a valid question. It's part of an even larger question: what should we call him in our scholarly works, books, essays, etc.? You will notice that some authors (like me) have almost always referred to him as MT; some refer to him in both ways, depending on the context; while others generally call him Sam or Clemens. I was always struck by the fact that Joe Twichell began so many of his letters with, "Dear Mark." But I get all those options, and opinions vary, so this continues to be a valid question, or set of questions, I think. How should we refer to this figure?
Briefly, on your main question; and riffing on Barbara's comment about what he might say today: I've also been struck over the years by the rise of MT Tonight by Hal Holbrook, during the rancorous times of the 1960s. And the role of comic as iconoclast and speaking truth to power. I like watching John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, or Closer Look by Seth Meyers, in the same ways: yes, they both have political views, but mainly are speaking out against silliness, stupidity, sham patriotism, every form of hypocrisy, and in general compassion and care for the poor, the oppressed, and so on. So there is both a political effect, but I would argue a deeply moral and ethical effect to those kinds of humor. David Dark's Everyday Apocalypse is very good on this concept and I have mimicked his theories in some of my own work. Just think of those amazing years of MT's Anti-Imperialism, culminating in his heroic return to America and his most vituperative essays of that period. So yes, he would be spot on I'm sure, in calling out the obtuseness and pathological nuttiness in our present moment, I dare say...
Dr. Hal Bush
Professor of English &
Director of the Undergraduate Program
Saint Louis University
[log in to unmask]
314-977-3616
http://halbush.com
author website: halbush.com
________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of miki pfeffer <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 9:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [External] What were Mark Twain's politics?
Thanks to those who responded to my question about the question of
politics. Plenty reading to do, I see (as always).
I appreciate the short unsourced version, too, for that's what I found
myself searching for in the interview.
Hmmm. I ponder Hal Bush's question about whether or not my double question
is valid.
I take my cue from Grace King letters in which distinguished the private
family man and friend from the public persona.
In some cases, she appreciated "Mr. Clemens" even more than the wildly
entertaining "Mark Twain," although she knew he slipped back and forth. She
respected his "vigorous intellect,"
His performing self must have had an escape hatch (a cover), but Grace and
Livy hinted that he might have wanted some views held closer to the vest.
On the other hand, S. L. Clemens wrote to Grace that he couldn't "lie"
convincingly when she asked him to apologize to her friend (who translated
"Jumping Frog" into French and which he then translated the French back
into English).
Can we extrapolate politics from fiction? Aren't writers trying out various
"truths"?
What stage of a writer's life shall we choose when replying in the moment
about his/her politics?
Grace's own last word on herself (her memoir) is very different from her
letter-writing self.
And what of triangulation? (Sam Clemens "kissed up"?!)
Oh dear, I'm wandering into too many questions.
Time to read now.
Miki
On Wed, Aug 5, 2020 at 2:36 PM Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Miki, I'm intrigued with your notion that MT's politics were different
> from Sam's, and how and why, etc. Personally I have veered away from those
> sorts of outright splits, over the years, but even old dogs can learn new
> tricks, I guess.
>
> More to your point, Jim Leonard has a good chapter on this topic in the
> recent volume, MT in Context, ed. John Bird.
>
> Also: I am reminded of a few of the old chestnuts as sources: Lou Budd,
> Mark Twain, Social Philosopher; Arthur Pettit, Mark Twain & the South; and
> Phillip Foner, Mark Twain, Social Critic.
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Hal Bush
>
> Professor of English &
>
> Director of the Undergraduate Program
>
> Saint Louis University
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> 314-977-3616
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://halbush.com__;!!K543PA!bFSPBdDuzywBsRv4N3RobBgkp3gZBbrNpxm7qTzuR7UWsWUc0zVNn3qCCWISWag$
>
> author website: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://halbush.com__;!!K543PA!bFSPBdDuzywBsRv4N3RobBgkp3gZBbrNpxm7qTzuR7UWsWUc0zVNn3qCCWISWag$
>
> ________________________________
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of miki pfeffer <
> [log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 2:01 PM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [External] What were Mark Twain's politics?
>
> Hello all,
>
> During a recent interview with Steve Courtney of the Mark Twain House
> (thank you Steve; thank you MTH) as part of the "Trouble at Home" series, I
> was asked this question:
> "What were Grace King's politics?"
>
> I struggled to answer with clarity in the moment, as I might about my own
> if asked.
>
> So I am asking you wise ones whose answers I always read with interest (and
> often with amusement):
> What were Mark Twain's politics?
> Likewise, what were Sam Clemens's politics?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Miki Pfeffer
>
> --
> Miki Pfeffer, Ph D
> *A** New Orlean**s Author i**n Mark Twain's Court: *
> *Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns *
> (LSU Press, 2019)
> *Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women's Rights at the
> 1884 New Orleans World's Fair *(University Press of Mississippi, 2014)
>
--
Miki Pfeffer, Ph D
*A** New Orlean**s Author i**n Mark Twain's Court: *
*Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns *
(LSU Press, 2019)
*Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women's Rights at the
1884 New Orleans World's Fair *(University Press of Mississippi, 2014)
|
