Emulation and mimicry cannot make non-Western literatures respectable

Evidence

The notion of black skin in a white mask is no more serviceable and dignified in literary study than it is in politics. Emulation and mimicry never get one very far. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 914

Categorization

• DEFINE: Ahmad unpacks what the argument he criticizes means by mimicry here, quoting Fanon’s ‘black skin in a white mask’.
• XREF: connects to: Non-Western literature’s exclusion from the canon is a translation problem, not literary exclusion — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 183; Imitation structurally denies the imitator’s own cultural virtues — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1137; Intellectual originality can consist of synthesizing foreign sources rather than innovating — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 59 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Imitation structurally denies the imitator’s own cultural virtues #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1137
• Non-Western literature’s exclusion from the canon is a translation problem, not literary exclusion #complicates (0.82) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 183
• Intellectual originality can consist of synthesizing foreign sources rather than innovating #complicates (0.78) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 59