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Re: Golliwogs
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It¹s vital to know that Goll[i/y]wog (the doll and the name) is considered
racist to many Anglophones. And Wog even more so, in the same taboo class as
the N-word. Context: child-speak doggy-woggy
Of course PC (Politically Correct) fashions vary confusedly over space, time
and languages. Even sensitive novelists like Nabokov can be caught
retrospectively out-of-phase,¹ as it were. He regularly uses Negro where
Black or African-American have become more acceptable.¹ Blacks themselves
have long argued over these changing usages. See, e.g., Black linguist John
McWhorter¹s comments at
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2010/01/john-mcwhorter-on-the-word-n
egro/20367/
Growing up in 1930s UK, we found the Golliwog black doll rather cute and
totally inoffensive. Indeed, until 2002 the Golliwog logo label appeared on
the jars of Robinson¹s most popular jams and marmalades. The current trend
is that both the name and doll are out of fashion, being widely considered
as distasteful stereotypes on a par with blacked-up minstrels.
Stan Kelly-Bootle.
On 13/08/2011 04:12, "Jansy" <jansy@AETERN.US> wrote:
> Didier Machu: Yes, there are traces of Golliwog in Camera Obscura / Laughter
> in the Dark. Margot twice calls Albinus doggy...in the British edition but in
> the American edition (100, 180) woggy is substituted....
>
> JM: It would be nice if I were able to retribute DMachu's comprehensive
> information in connection to the golliwoggs, but this kind of doll, or of
> adventure-stories for children is very unfamiliar to me. I would never have
> guessed its presence in "Laughter in the Dark" nor in "KQKn," with the
> unexpected literary pranks it entails.
> I'll check it in the Brazilian-Portuguese edition to find out how the
> translators cope with it or, at least, how they render the "doggy-woggy"
> alusion.
>
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racist to many Anglophones. And Wog even more so, in the same taboo class as
the N-word. Context: child-speak doggy-woggy
Of course PC (Politically Correct) fashions vary confusedly over space, time
and languages. Even sensitive novelists like Nabokov can be caught
retrospectively out-of-phase,¹ as it were. He regularly uses Negro where
Black or African-American have become more acceptable.¹ Blacks themselves
have long argued over these changing usages. See, e.g., Black linguist John
McWhorter¹s comments at
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2010/01/john-mcwhorter-on-the-word-n
egro/20367/
Growing up in 1930s UK, we found the Golliwog black doll rather cute and
totally inoffensive. Indeed, until 2002 the Golliwog logo label appeared on
the jars of Robinson¹s most popular jams and marmalades. The current trend
is that both the name and doll are out of fashion, being widely considered
as distasteful stereotypes on a par with blacked-up minstrels.
Stan Kelly-Bootle.
On 13/08/2011 04:12, "Jansy" <jansy@AETERN.US> wrote:
> Didier Machu: Yes, there are traces of Golliwog in Camera Obscura / Laughter
> in the Dark. Margot twice calls Albinus doggy...in the British edition but in
> the American edition (100, 180) woggy is substituted....
>
> JM: It would be nice if I were able to retribute DMachu's comprehensive
> information in connection to the golliwoggs, but this kind of doll, or of
> adventure-stories for children is very unfamiliar to me. I would never have
> guessed its presence in "Laughter in the Dark" nor in "KQKn," with the
> unexpected literary pranks it entails.
> I'll check it in the Brazilian-Portuguese edition to find out how the
> translators cope with it or, at least, how they render the "doggy-woggy"
> alusion.
>
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/