"…for me the great human virtue is promiscuity, the fact that we love mixture, that we are excited by collisions between cultures, languages, traditions. This is why I’m so disgusted by the rejection of this virtue by nationalists of various stripes—and also why I’m resistant to “stay in your lane” condemnations of “cultural appropriation.” Of course, encounters with the other are fraught with peril and—like any ethically meaningful human endeavor—inherently “problematic.” Of course, we need to be mindful and reverent as we attempt to reach across borders of various kinds. But any attempt to build walls—between bodies, between cultural traditions, between languages and aesthetics—is abhorrent to me."
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Novelists from the United StatesLiterary criticsPoets from the United StatesEducators from the United StatesGay poets
Original Language: English
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On how he views notions of cultural appropriation in “Promiscuity Is a Virtue: An Interview with Garth Greenwell” in The Paris Review (2020 Jan 14)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garth_Greenwell
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Garth Greenwell
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