Why Learning to Write is Important

This caustic piece about the patronizing, self-congratulatory language of people writing about Africa reminds me of the importance of learning how to write. I'm not talking about how to put a sentence together. I'm talking about all those tools of literary analysis that you learn in English Literature that seem to have no direct relation to something like economic development--tone, style, imagery, metaphors, cultural theory and all that good stuff--and how to apply those tools to produce effective writing.

Learning how to write about another culture is neigh impossible. Maybe it is impossible. Chinua Achebe is familiar with the contradictions and difficulties. To me, it seems obvious that the difficulties of development are akin to the difficulties of writing about Africa or any less developed country/poor country/third world country/country of the economic south. How does one figure out the right tone/authorial stance? the right narrative structure? How, if one desires to persuade in development writing, does one overcome the difficulties of establishing ethos/speaker credibility? Surely, part of what is so offensive about Brooks' recent column about intrusive paternalism in Haiti is the fact of his unalterably being white, male and upper class.

Similarly, how do developed countries and aid organizations figure out their role in the development of other countries?

Storytelling

Recently, Chris Blattman linked to this essay about how book clubs diminish the intimacy of the reading experience.

For me, the essay brought to mind my undergraduate study of postcolonial literature, which helped me appreciate the diversity of different models in reading. The author of the essay, Adam Sternbergh, no doubt relies upon a Western model that envisions an intimate, singular connection between text and reader. Implicit in the model is a highly individuated reader, a liberal self isolated from community and context. No surprise then that Sternbergh romanticizes the ideal of reading Moby Dick "while sailing the world alone."

For myself, I draw inspiration for my reading from a different model. In an essay on oral subjectivity, Cynthia Ward writes, "The value of the oral tale to the oral culture lies not entirely in the tale itself but, perhaps more significantly, in the discussion it generates after it is told." This insight accords with my experience of texts that come alive in discussion. In such cases, the give-and-take of discussion heightens the reading experience rather than cheapens it.