Been re-reading my earlier posts - see how pathetic my life has become.Down the years more than one commenter has judged me guilty of "self-deprecation", always that phrase. In the nicest possible way, y'unnerstand.
Guilty, milud! What's more, the trope (First time I've used trope; I could have got it wrong.) was deliberate, the reason obvious. Adopting a self-deprecatory tone frees me from the opposite charge of self-approval. Otherwise smug, for smug is hard to sell.
Even so, I've got to pick my self-deprecatory spots. No use typing myself as ugly. For one thing I've posted portraits which prove it, for another at age eighty-three what else might one expect?
Another point. Tone Deaf's readership is much better educated than its author. Thus if I own up to being a lousy writer and frame the admission in a sentence of lapidary beauty I'll be seen immediately as a quack. And I'll deserve it.
Things can get really complicated. Seen from inside I may conclude I'm mean-spirited. Kind-hearted readers (and there aren't many of the other sort) may say this is irrelevant and proves my honesty. Self-deprecatory honesty, of course, but nevertheless a good thing.
How about this: "Circumstances force me to say I've read Joyce's Ulysses. But I deplore the implicit pat on the back." Self-deprecation is more difficult to recognise there, don't you agree?
You don't? Keep an eye on my next fifty posts, let’s see who wins.
I said I was pathetic. Should I add I’m desperate?
This whole post overflows with your modesty, RR. Is self-deprecation a bad thing though? Not if it is genuinely felt, I think. T.E.Lawrence (of Arabia) oozed with it and was accused of "backing into the limelight". There are limits.
ReplyDeleteUlysses eh? You deserve the pat on the back. Make that two.
ReplyDeleteAvus: The Tone Deaf commenters - I think there were three - who separately identified this tendency in me were not being critical, they were, each in his/her own way, letting me know they knew what I was up to. I was flattered I'd been subjected to such close scrutiny and a half-perceived realisation about my style of writing became more concrete.
ReplyDeleteThe danger with self-deprecation is motive. If it becomes obvious to the reader that what appears - at first glance - to be flagellation turns out to be self-inflation, then the battle is lost. Honesty is terribly important and I'm not pretending I've always managed to be honest. The question remains: is it "natural" to publicise one's faults for open consumption?
Sabine: I have painted myself into a corner. There are many things I want to say - and, damnit, could say - about Ulysses but mustn't. The environment I've created with this post turns all of them into no-go areas.