LETTERS
Socialist Outlook in duff headlines scandal
I wish to disassociate myself from heading to my article on South Africa in
Socialist Outlook 16 —'Mandela and Moscow join in ANC policy switch'. This is the sort of headline one would expect to see in the tabloid press, not in a serious political journal, and completely distorts what I wrote about Mandela.
Far from ascribing Nelson Mandela a pivotal role in conjunction with the Kremlin, I simply expressed an opinion that 'the pronegotiation tendency must ahve been further strengthened by (his)letters to the British Ambassador... (and) Buthelezi'.
This is a far cry from what is implied by the sensationalist headline, and I think my own title 'South Africa - Changing Perspectives' would have been more appropriate.
REVLEWS/ LETTERS all relationships including relations between Christians and
Jews. The interpretation of
Shylock given by screen actor
Dustin Hoffman, who brings all his pathos mixed with pride to the role, further underlines this
The play was written against a background of mounting and institutionalised racism against the Jewish community. In 1515-
16 the Venetian State had decided to confine the entire
Jewish community to one area - one of the first ghettoes. Jews were not allowed to own land basted for turning to money lending. As Shylock points out the rich traders and landowners of
Venice were not above borrow.
ing money to finance their ventures and then promulgating racist propaganda and insults against those who lent them the
As in Thatcher's Britain, money dominates every characters fate. Shylock symbolically demands a pound of flesh in payment of his debt from Antonio.
Antonio shows his love of his
My original banned since Sharpeville in 1960.
Charlie van Gelderen, Cambridge
Long arm of Delors nationalism, but has failed to be in the vanthe redressing this by defining what a positive policy for a socialist Europe might look like.
ETUC officials constitute leaderships': we could do without such abstract a-priori thinking in a serious journal.
reforms are all empty 'facades' because capitalism is still in power. Does that mean that we object to the NHS? The answer is obvious, and likewise for Delors "social charter';
it is foolish to counterpose reform to revolution (Luxemburg), especially when Thatcher, isolated in Europe and her party split, is digging her own pit to fall into.
Chris Madoc friend Bassanio by giving him the money he borrowed from
Shylock. Portia, being a woman, sees through all this, and remarks ironically to her lover
Bassanio when offering to help pay the debt that Since you are dear bought I will love you dear'.
One cannot help feeling that in drawing out and emphasising this theme Peter Hall must have had in mind the fate of British theatres under Thatcher, now dependent on private sponsorship, and not all with the ability to attract big name stars like Dustin
Hoffman to grace their produc-
Hoffman's Shylock plots his revenge in a quiet, calculating way but he is not portrayed as cruel in demanding his pound of flesh - he is proud in fighting his humiliation at the hands of the racists who spit upon him and torment him.
He is motivated in this, not by money or material gain but by grief at the loss of his daughter who has gone and married one of these yuppies, and by a determination to restore his lost pride.
Like all Shakespeare's heroes he
A small point; paragraph 2 suggests that 90 organisations have been banned in the current state of emergency, when the number is 32.
refered to 90 organisations
Reilly, SO No16).
I fear that if socialists are not to miss new opportunties in the 1990's they will need to move on from defending "maginot' positions on Europe. The left prides itself on interguard of addressing new problems politically.
Socialist Outlook 15 goes some way towards
However, it is simply untrue to say that all
"treacherous
Later we are told that social democratic economic status.
does not win out, and to modern audiences there is a disappointment in not seeing the racists get their just desert. But as with Lear or Hamlet or Macbeth, Shylock's heroism lies in his humanity - his ability to feel deep passions and to struggle to the bitter end.
The passage in which
Shylock challenges the racism of
Venetian society has all the rhythm and eloquence of a Martin Luther King speech.
In many of Shakespeare's plays, the women are only able to act on their world and show their true abilities when they are dressed as men. Portia, played with great energy by Geraldine
James, is on the wrong side against Shylock but she is one of the best of Shakespeare's strong women, combining a sharp wit and intellect with an ability to experience human emotion.
If you can get tickets for the this sumptuous production, it's well worth a visit. It is beautiful to look at and intelligently and sensitively interpreted. Return tickets may be available on certain days because of the effects of the rail strike !
Short and sharp
It's wonderful that Socialist Outlook has finally started to take culture seriously — bringing in someone to review a collection of who "hates short stories (Jean
This is a genuine breakthrough in developing a revolutionary socialist critique of literature and could be followed up by film reviews from someone who hates the cinema or someone writing about television programmes who does't have access to a television. I'm sure it would be every bit as successful.
Leaving aside content, there are political considerations about the form of the short story that relate to class, race and gender.
The oral tradition of storytelling, where the narrative is purposefully shortened and the concision made particularly incisive, is a direct and dialectical progentitor of the short
The time that is available io individuals for reading or writing — not to mention their devloped skills relates to that person's socio-
The short story is not implicitly a revolutionary form of expression. But it can be.
Steve Taylor, Camden
The Student Union, Pond Street
November 11th & 12th, 1989
Registration from 10am, Saturday
Conference 11-5 Saturday, 10-4 Sunday
For further information contact: PO Box 118, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S44 5UD
LOCIALIST
CONFERENCE
Sponsors so far include:
• TGWU Region 6.
•Liaison
Committee for the
Defence of Trade
Unions.
•Durham NUM.
•Campaign Group of Labour MPs.
•Women for
Socialism.
•Trade Unionists against
Section 28.
•Construction
Safety Campaign.
• Hazards 88.
•NALGO Broad
Left.
•Socialist
Teachers Alliance.
•Solidarity
Network.
WORKSHOPS ON:
Tackling "New Realism"; Fighting the
Anti-Union Laws; Positive Action; The Changing
Workforce; New Management Techniques,
Defending Public Services; Health & Safety;
Training; Internationalism; Solidarity; etc.
Which
Way for
Socialists in the
Unions?
Sheffield Poly
(opposite BR Station)