tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post2950254974256665294..comments2024-03-14T13:25:20.613-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: The Search for a Usable Gordon WoodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-29042526975991886252013-01-26T01:34:40.530-05:002013-01-26T01:34:40.530-05:00I noticed that some remarks about Michael's es...I noticed that some remarks about Michael's essay and the responses to it didn't offer due consideration to the impromptu nature of online writing and commenting. That's why I started my summary with how he'd later explained the impetus for the essay. It seemed like the best way to head off new readers' quick assumptions or interpretations.<br /><br />But in that spirit of pushing through for the best expression, I do think "rubber chicken circuit" is simply a better metaphor for what Michael described. It's a small point I left to the end, though. (And I'm not sure I could have come up with that substitution on my own.) J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-27245236199103118632013-01-25T09:45:26.175-05:002013-01-25T09:45:26.175-05:00I agree that that historical audiences and NYRB re...I agree that that historical audiences and NYRB readers constitute an oppressed minority, and that the metaphor ought not be taken too far. The notion that Wood needs to cling close to certain venues for safety is pretty far fetched; in fact it's likely his critics that would find themselves more likely to find themselves in such a need. I think your conclusion, that the audience was not one that would challenge the author to be a correct summary.<br /><br />I did get Michael's point that it was a question of "friendly audiences" rather than something more racially evocative, which was why I had pressed him for clarification. <br /><br />I never did any grad work in history, and personally I'm grateful to Wood for giving me a little bit of that level of sophistication in some of his writings. Most of the criticism is, I think, unfounded and the most virulent driven more by frustration that their agenda driven research doesn't have a hold on the educated public as it does in some corners of academia.Alec Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798740054843742404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-48903890409764842452013-01-25T08:37:57.672-05:002013-01-25T08:37:57.672-05:00I think a lot more has been read into that metapho...I think a lot more has been read into that metaphor than I originally intended. As a big 40s & 50s R&B fan, I know all about the history of the chitlin' circuit. In the piece, I meant to use it merely as a loose network of friendly, supportive (one could read that as "unchallenging") venues throughout the country. <br /><br />As Ale Rogers pointed out, there is a self-selection aspect to it as well. It certainly did not mean to portray the New York Historical Society as an "oppressed minority" suffering from "social segregation."<br /><br />Readers' attention responses to this piece have really run the gamut from this welcome attention to detail to attributing assertions to the piece which were either not there or contrary to what I actually wrote. <br /><br />In the end, I think Bell and Hogeland may be right that "rubber chicken circuit" may have been a better choice of metaphor. But this was a blog post and hence not something I spent weeks revising.Michael D. Hattemhttp://michaelhattem.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-38315528950558950182013-01-24T16:35:52.059-05:002013-01-24T16:35:52.059-05:00But isn't self-selection also part of the &quo...But isn't self-selection also part of the "rubber chicken circuit"? The audience is choosing the speaker (or writer, in the case of a book review organ) for prestige and perceived expertise by mainstream standards. <br /><br />I don't think historical societies and the <i>New York Review of Books</i> are really an oppressed minority, and tenured professors receiving honoraria suffering from social segregation. At least not to such an extent as to warrant "chitlin circuit" the best comparison.<br /><br />Furthermore, the chitlin circuit was known for allowing African-American performers to be <i>more</i> emotive, rough, sexual, &c. That was where Sam Cooke could sing "axe" instead of "ask," where Redd Foxx could tell his dirtiest jokes, where performers could acknowledge the racism they suffered with their audiences. The point of the metaphor seemed to me to be that the historians' circuit was unchallenging for its popular audience. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-76083154013644448842013-01-24T14:08:46.134-05:002013-01-24T14:08:46.134-05:00Hi - since you mentioned my comment, please allow ...Hi - since you mentioned my comment, please allow me to defend Michael's use of the phrase "Chitlin Circuit," which he qualified as the "historian's version" of the Chitlin Circuit. <br /><br />The Chitlin Circuit was a place where African American entertainers were welcomed to play, i.e., they provided a welcome haven in a not always friendly world. <br /><br />There's an aspect of "self selection" about it, which is all, I think, having read Michael's further explanation, he was trying to connote.Alec Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798740054843742404noreply@blogger.com