{"id":650,"date":"2011-01-29T21:22:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-30T05:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=650"},"modified":"2011-02-03T07:53:34","modified_gmt":"2011-02-03T15:53:34","slug":"support-lwa-and-create-dangerously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=650","title":{"rendered":"Support Lwa and Create Dangerously"},"content":{"rendered":"

First of all my good friend and filmmaker Dehanza Rogers is currently trying to raise funding for her magical-realist, Haitian short film, Lwa<\/em>. Please take a look at her Kickstarter page<\/a>. Really, even a small contribution will go a long way to helping support a filmmaker I believe in.<\/p>\n

Over the next couple of weeks, Daye and I are reading through Edwidge Danticat\u2019s latest collection of essays, Create Dangerously<\/em>, \u00a0and have agreed to post a few comments back and forth. We did this once before<\/a> a while ago and it\u2019s not too late for you to grab a copy<\/a> and join us as we read at the accommodating, glacial pace of two chapters a week. [Though I know Daye\u2019s familiar with Danticat\u2019s work, this collection got my attention via this post<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

For me, I am reading this book largely oblivious to the Haitian culture from which Danticat is writing and I\u2019m hoping to use this dialogue as a space to understand better both the space of art from which both Danticat and Daye are producing from and within.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m struck by the fact that the titles of the first two chapters of the book serve as gentle and opposing commands: \u201cCreate Dangerously\u201d and \u201cWalk Straight.\u201d As if the role of the \u201cImmigrant Artist at Work\u201d traverses the careful balance of producing with criticality and toeing an existing conceit. An interesting balancing act; I know how this tension is played out in the public eye for Danticat based on her reflections in \u201cWalk Straight.\u201d Daye, I\u2019m curious how you are working between both of these.<\/p>\n

As for the content, I like the way Danticat\u2019s own perspectives as a creator are steeped in a history \u2013familial, national, cultural, universal. The Haitian political figures that begin the book, the subterfugre, assassinations, and secret police reminded me Graham Greene\u2019s lesser work, The Comedians<\/em> and I was pleased to see Danticat reference it directly (as well as Greene\u2019s exile from Hatia as a result of his choice of dangerously creating the accurate portrayl of the dictatoriship within the novel). [As a brief aside, I want to point out that I purchased The Comedians as a used bookstore solely because of a blind faith in Greene\u2019s writing and the incredible cover art<\/a>.] I am struck by the idea that, \u201cthere is probably no such thing as an immigrant artist in this globalized age.\u201d While I don\u2019t necessarily agree with Danticat\u2019s claim here, I am curious about what authorial advantages are gained by vantage of the \u201cimmigrant\u201d in the flattened world so many are pointing to.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to make this too long as Daye and I will be checking in over the course of the book, so I\u2019ll end by examining a quote from the second chapter: \u201cAnguished by my own sense of guilt, I often reply feebly that in writing what I do, I exploit no one more than myself.\u201d I\u2019ve find myself empathizing with Danticat\u2019s claim here and wonder how you, Daye, see this quote in relation to your own work and in particular to Lwa<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3>