[lit-ideas] Re: I'm going back to lurking
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 09:24:38 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Austin,
After I made the remark about Hawthorne and the Quaker
woman I regretted it somewhat, and I said later that I
withdraw that remark. I thought that the episode might
be of some interest at the time I made the comment,
but later I figured it could have been an impertinent
thing to say. I apologize for that remark. However, I
did not regret questioning the
epistemological/analytical import of an isolated
personal episode, nor do I regret having done so now.
It is not a matter that should give you offence, for I
was not questioning your personal fairness or
veracity, but rather addressing you in the context of
the general discussion. Repeatedly deliberately
misspelling my name does not do you much honour, and
neither does refering to "Moslems" as a single lump,
as you have done a couple of times in your earlier
post. But perhaps we all have minor imperfections that
should be excused, if not necessarily tolerated. Also,
it's not much use to present yourself as a lurker,
when in fact you have been contributing regularly to
this list and the previous lists. When I responded, I
was not thinking about you as someone who only steps
in briefly to tell a personal anecdote, but rather as
someone who is a participant in the general debate,
and is prepared to handle criticism and challenge. I
hope that you will change your mind and stay on the
list, though in truth I am considering stepping down
myself.
O.K.
--- Austin Meredith <Kouroo@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Recently there has been on this list a discussion of
> antisemitism and the
> Middle East, and I thought I saw an opportunity for
> me to contribute a
> minor fact that was of my personal knowledge. After
> I had contributed that
> fact, another contributor to this list, "Omar
> Kosturica," snapped back in
> the following manner:
> >This happened during the early days of the Islamic
> >revolution. So are we now going to tell an anecdote
> or
> >two from Europe during World War II and conclude
> >thereof that the European societies are, have
> always
> >been, and will always be, pervasively anti-Semitic
> ?
> >Or an anecdote from Russia during the 'pogrom'
> days,
> >and draw similar conclusions about the Russian
> society?
>
> Since I do not appreciate being responded to in such
> a manner, I am going
> to return to lurking. I wish I had not bothered to
> share my information,
> such as it was, with this list.
>
> This "Omar Kosturica" continued with an irrelevancy
> about something he
> seems to remember from several centuries before he
> was born:
>
> >I seem to remember that the grandfather of
> Nathaniel
> >Hawthorne sentenced a Quaker woman to be whipped in
> >the streets of Boston, which is mentioned in one of
> >his stories.
>
> The person to whom "Omar Kosturica" seems to be
> referring to was Nathaniel
> Hawthorne's great-great-great-grandfather William
> Hathorne (1606/07-1681),
> rather than one of his grandfathers. He had arrived
> on these shores in 1630
> on the Arbella, settling in Dorchester in New
> England and then moving to
> Salem. This great-great-great-grandfather would
> serve as a Major in wars
> against the Americans and become a Magistrate and
> Judge of the Puritans,
> and we have his holograph signature upon a warrant
> for the whipping out of
> town of Friend Anne Coleman for being a Quaker.
> Nathaniel Hawthorne the
> fiction writer, one of this man's
> great-great-great-grandsons, did in fact
> refer to this warrant in one of his fictions.
>
> Omar Kosturica's summation was:
>
> >What could this tell us about the American society?
>
> I would respond with "What could it tell us about
> this lit-ideas list, that
> a lurker, myself, rose from lurking for a moment,
> and contributed something
> -- only to promptly regret having bothered to do
> so?"
>
>
>
>
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