4 thoughts on “Identity Politics in the World of Poetry”

  1. This is not OK according to the PC crowd. You see, when for example a woman author chooses a male pen name, that’s fine. But if a white appropriates an Asian identity, he is doing so “from a position of entitlement” so it’s bad. Even though all current signs point to minorities being the “entitled” ones (e.g. entitled to affirmative action, entitled to getting their poems picked in preference to those written by whites, etc.), whites have a hereditary status of “entitlement” which trumps their current lack of entitlement. It’s sort of like being a descendant of a landlord in Communist China – even if you are dirt poor and in disfavor now, your inherited status makes you a member of the oppressor class.

  2. This is rather unusual, as in the world of affirmative action “bad” minorities like Asians get suppressed to make way for “good” ones, so he is not particularly good at picking assumed identities any more than at poetry.

  3. I read about that story in the New Yorker. I’m Asian and I find this rather odd. When I was living in the US, I often taken on a more American name when writing for publication. Seeing the tables turned to have a white guy pretend to be Asian. Never thought I’d see the day that would happen.

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