can be political, but still can be good!- Zadie Smith - contemporary British woman writer; video, interview with Smith (resembles Kiki from the novel)
- Smith: novels are politic ("moral"), but you can't make it a propaganda novel - how does she get the politics and morals into her novel? "A truthful perception of the world as I go through it..."; "Art is a case, an analogy of morals" (Iris Murdock)
- The artist doesn't have to be a moral purpose, but his or her art has to be a truthful expression of the artist. This is difficult because of self-deception - in art as in
life.- Pushes the difference in a person's adult- and child-reactions - the adult sees the world as being about other things than one's self, a child does not see multiple perspectives or a "me v. them" or "us v. them" mentality
- Will multiculturalism dispossess a person? Nick Holdstock - Zadie Smith v. Zadie Smith, the real person versus the author the PR, her audiences, her critics, etc. have fashioned
- Example of attacking a mirror-image of the self- Method: create a thoroughly likable character - get into that character's head - let that character come alive
- It's an analogy for moral people in real life
- Literature is about human relationships and the difficulties of that
- The culture wars; multicultural debate (radical left) - Howard's family and Monty's family; Jerome as mediator, since he loves Kiki
- Monty: practicing Christian, pro-family, pro-business, sole provider, conservative. His family is religious
- Why is Jerome working for Monte? - He's trying to get his father's attention by working for his arch rival/nemesis.
- p44 of book: Jerome came home, and his mother is trying to get him to engage with her - she wants him to go to a fair or something. "Jerome had fallen in love with a family." What's that about? He sees in them what he wants, or what he thinks he wants at that time. Does falling in love with a family change your attitude about love? NO - it doesn't. It makes perfect sense to me.
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