Back to Blog
The blazing world by siri hustvedt6/8/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() We need more beautiful novels like The Blazing World. If we want to truly see and understand sexism at work at a time when it’s at its trickiest and least overt, to tackle its presence in real lives, to apprehend the fullness of its influence, to understand more deeply what it means and how it feels, we need something besides VIDA counts, or feminist bloggers snidely and resourcefully competing to deconstruct the latest conservative politician’s gaffe, or unretouched photos of Lena Dunham’s Vogue shoot. As Virginia Woolf put it in A Room of One’s Own: “Fiction here is likely to contain more truth than fact.” Now that we no longer need to name or discover it-“Sexism exists!”-the flatfooted outrage of the blogosphere or feminist narratives is too crude, too simplifying, too unchallenging, too predictable, and the novel’s delicate touch may be precisely what is called for. ![]() It may be that the challenges currently facing feminist thinkers, the subtleties of how sexism plays out in a world in which women are approaching social and economic equality, are better dealt with in fiction. , which unearths and examines the stealth chauvinism of sensitive men. Take a lighter but also trenchant commentary on residual sexism, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. After Harry chooses to reveal her machinations under a male. The Blazing Worldby Siri Hustvedt is a thunderous, multifaceted novel that deserves the acclaim its heroine fails to claim for herself. All of which makes me wonder whether, in coming years, the most provocative work in feminism will be in novels. The inevitable success of her Maskings exhibit will expose art world sexism, embarrass Burden’s detractors and establish her as a superstar. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |