Biotic_Factor t1_ispwge7 wrote on October 17, 2022 at 8:35 PM

Reply to comment by weluckyfew in He's known as Chile's greatest poet, but feminists say Pablo Neruda is canceled by Aboveground_Plush

I understand this argument and it's certainly a common one. In this case, though, the art and the artist are quite intertwined as his work is very personal. For instance, as mentioned in the article, one poem starrs with "I like for you to be still: it is as though you were absent." The artist and his work are also intertwined in this case because Neruda has been raised to a level of being a symbol of Chilean poetry. At this point he has become a figure that represents more than just his words. So by supporting his writing a person is supporting him as a figure and as a public icon and as a part of Chilean culture in a way that's arguably detrimental to Chilean culture

notthatlincoln t1_isr1sa1 wrote on October 18, 2022 at 1:46 AM

Unless Chilean culture is precisely what Pablo Neruda represents.

Biotic_Factor t1_isrlf40 wrote on October 18, 2022 at 4:35 AM

Could you explain what you mean by this?

notthatlincoln t1_ist1hcg wrote on October 18, 2022 at 2:25 PM

The statement is fairly self-explanatory.

Biotic_Factor t1_istou1j wrote on October 18, 2022 at 5:00 PM

I was just wondering if you wanted to expand on your point at all :)

notthatlincoln t1_istueqc wrote on October 18, 2022 at 5:37 PM

Well, in certain African majority Muslim countries, Somalia, for instance, female genital mutilation and spousal abuse is the norm. Not the exception, the norm. So, discovering that Somalia's most renowned Male poets also happened to be woman-abusing female genital mutilation supporters would not, by definition, be some sort of slander upon the general populace of Somalia, it would simply mean that their most popular poets are also representative of the general populations attitudes towards such things. I don't know what the general attitude of Chilean men during the time of Pablo Neruda's heyday towards rape or spousal abuse was, so I'm not going to make the automatic assumption that it is slanderous towards Chileans somehow to view his attitudes as normal in that regard. I don't know. I wasn't there.