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PARTISAN REVIEW
Ralph Ellison: I
think that the no velist is stu ck with the task of
making whatever he ca n o f social reality by redu cing it to manageable
proportio ns, and this he does thro ugh the forms and techniques of fic–
tion . He might approach the life around him irreverently, and thus seek
to convey a sense of its uniqueness and universality through the modes of
sa tire and comedy. He also has the optio n o f examining hi s characters,
their motives and backgrounds in the light of classical tragedy. There are
many possible approaches. But if the novelist is an Ameri can , he may well
choose to approac h his material in li ght o f th at o ld , no t always recog–
ni zed , Afro-American attitude towa rd experi ence whi ch we know as the
blues. Whi ch is a nati ve mode wherein th e absurditi es that mark our
stri ving to ac hi eve, o r to
avo id
ac hi eving, th e idea ls embodied in the
documents which give voice to our political ideals.
That approac h is an Ameri can f0 n11 of tragicomedy whi ch allows us
to laugh at ourselves and o ur system 's absurditi es whil e affirming the
transce ndent idea ls w hi ch fo rm the basis o f our stri vin gs. For in the
course of pursuing o ur Ameri can idea ls such laughter is correcti ve, in the
sense that it alJ ows us to have hope w hil e fac ing up to o ur transgressions
and follies.
On the other hand , I do n 't think that books change society in any
immediate way . And thi s despite the fac t that durin g th e thirti es there
were theo rists who tri ed to convince us o f such a poss ibility. But if it
worked fo r them , it didn 't fo r me. Fo r rea lity is rea lity, and I was still
forced to live in the same secti ons of our citi es and was stri ctly limited in
my choi ces o f such matters as j obs, restaurants, neighbo rhoods. That such
soc ial realities contradi cted o ur Ameri can ideals was obvio us, but there
was no thin g
to
do about it except stri ve thro ugh po liti cal action to
make o ur Ameri ca n ideals manifest in o ur society. Yes, and attempt to
make it the substance of art. And do n 't fo rge t that some fa irly good art,
espec ially music, was fas hi oned from such absurditi es. I'll let it go with
that.
Czeslaw Milosz:
It seems to me th at th ere is a very rea l opposition
between intellectuals and writers, whi ch Saul Bell ow menti oned. If we
obse rve th e
lallgll age
used by intellectuals in the universiti es, especially
those in the English departments,
I
see a direct contradi cti on between
their aspiratio ns and the aspiratio ns of w riters.
William Phillips:
Are you sure those are intell ec tuals you 're referring
to?
