this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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askchapo
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Fiction is perfectly fine and admittedly there should be more of it, too. We can account for the different age range too as the books are already sorted into "Junior" and "Advanced" categories.
Not sure what to make of an author notably critiquing another author's book on colonialism, but I will add them both as they seem like really interesting books to read.
We actually already have this book on the reading list, although your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your contributions!
Joseph Conrad was a Polish emigree who served in the British merchant marine, he writes from the western perspective but is notably against social darwinism. When contrasted to contemporary works (Like "White Man's Burden") it is sympathetic to the indigenous, but Chinua's problem is that the narrator (and presumably Conrad) are still fairly prejudiced, also the book is from 1899 so product of it's time and all that
Yeah, most of our books are on very recent topics and we could use some books from older times. Some people have the tendency to completely shun older media for aspects that have become unacceptable (eg. revolutionaries with bigoted views of LGBTQ+ people) and while those books should probably not be the main focus, they should still be included as a way to educate ourselves on history, reflect on our mistakes and learn to do better!
And being able to not only appreciate but also critique an author and their works for their outdated ways of thinking is a great way to get people to critically think about race.