December 6, 1992

I want to thank Daven and Michael M. for their cordial and
closely-reasoned replies to my posting.  As to the latter, when I
re-read it, I realized that it could be interpreted as being
unduly hostile, and for that, I apologize.  When I said I was too
tired to respond, I wasn't being petulant; I've just come off a
very gruelling on-again-off-again concert tour, and I really am
tired.  However, the quality of the two aforementioned responses
deserves the effort of as good an answer as I can manage, so here
goes....

First, a seeming digression.  In 1970, when I was a student at
the Aspen Music Festival, I was put into a piano quintet; nothing
unusual about that, except that the group was like the United
Nations: one white male pianist (me), a black female cellist, one
Hungarian violinist (male), a Korean violist (male), and a Korean
violinist (female).  The language we had in common was English,
but that was only with four of us; the violist spoke Korean and
French (he was a student at the Conservatoire).  For six weeks,
we worked three times a week on the Brahms Quintet, often under a
coach (she was from Texas), at the end of which time, we
performed the work at one of the final concerts.  It really is
impossible to convey in words the sense of unity, community, and
friendship that developed between the five of us during those six
weeks.  Our various cultural backgrounds were interesting to all
of us, and the various stories we told each other about where we
grew up served to enhance our growing friendships, but in terms
of our art, such considerations were *totally* irrelevant.  Even
the lack of a common language meant absolutely nothing; the music
bridged all barriers as if they weren't even there (which, in
fact, they never were...??? Whatever!).  Anyway, I had always
been told that Art builds bridges, and eliminates borders, but
this was the first time I had experienced it first hand.  It was
a lesson I've never forgotten.

It seems to me that an ideological treatment of Art seeks to do
the opposite: it not only seeks to blow up the bridges, but
further, it seeks to redefine the borders on racial and/or sexual
grounds, fortify them with walls manned (!) with howitzers, and
demand an I.D. showing one's genetic lineage as proof of one's
fitness for entry.  Only Native American's are fit to write about
Native Americans, only women should write about women, and yes,
only blacks should be permitted to write about blacks.  I realize
that neither Daven nor J.D. Stahl were advocating anything
approaching this kind of fascist nonsense, but I am speaking here
of a philosophical bottom line.  In Canada, we have already had
proposals that Canada Council grants be withheld from a writer
who uses native mythology without the permission an official
spokesperson from a native group.

I trust completely in the integrity of Daven, J.D. Stahl and
Michael M.  However, I have the uncomfortable feeling that, were
Twain a black author, their reactions to *Huck Finn* might have
been different, unless they hold the view that only a white male
could have written it as it now stands.  If this latter is true,
then I rest my case.

To me, the most profound statement ever made about the
relationship between art and ideology was when Yeats said: "You
can refute Hegel, but you can't refute Sing a Song of Sixpence";
in other words, don't confuse categories of discourse: literature
should be dealt with as literature, and not as something which
perhaps you find a little more interesting (such as philosophy,
politics, ethnicity, religion, ideology, astrology, phrenology,
etc., etc.).  In terms of race, I heard it said best by a
musician: during a conversation, in which the topic of her racial
heritage was being discussed, she was asked who the greatest
black composer was.  Her reply:  "George Gershwin".  Is it
perhaps the view of my three friends that *Rhapsody in Blue*, and
*Porgy and Bess* are "racist" in the same way as is (sic) *Huck
Finn*?  I certainly hope not.  But if not, I'd be interested in
hearing wherein lies the difference.


Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say.  Sorry if I rambled,
but the topic is a big one, and my brain is too fried to compose
a concise response.

Cheers,

Leslie Kinton
Royal Conservatory of Music,
Toronto, Ontario.