Clearly this Mennonite Writer had a non-Mennonite audience in mind. What I'll warrant she didn't expect, was the interested, passionate, and sometimes hotly critical response of a reading Mennonite public. Thus Janzen's Mennonite Writers' dilemma was less whether or not to tell the "secrets" of family and community, but rather what to do once she had told them in a memoir that nearly everyone wanted or wants to read.
While reviewers from non-Mennonite places noted the affection that Rhoda shows, especially for her mother, to whom the book is dedicated, Mennonites were concerned with which Mennonite story she was telling, whether she got the history right, how she talked about her family, and the embarrassment they were sure her rather unvarnished portraits were causing them. Some of these reviewers weren't above giving Rhoda a good scolding.
One of the more balanced reviews by a non-Mennonite acquainted with Mennonites is by Jessica Baldanzi in the CMW Journal. This book review, to date, received more comments than anything the Journal has published. These comments, which you can read when you access the review online by clicking on Jessica's name above, express a range of Mennonite responses. After we make our own assessments, we'll read some of both kinds of reviews in our class.
Another review from an "Old Mennonite" (aka early immigrant Mennonites to the US) perspective is by Shirley Showalter, former President of Goshen College, on her blog, "100 Memoirs." This review highlights some of the differences between Swiss-descended and Russian descended Mennonite groups.
Shirley also has a very useful guide to Rhoda's use of humor in Humor and Memoir: Seven Ways to Leave 'em Laughing, a guest comment on a blog about women's memoirs.
A balanced review from a non-Mennonite perspective is by Kate Christensen in the Nov. 5, 2009 Sunday New York Times Book Review.
Do you think that a lot or part of the criticism she received was necessary or unnecessary? It seems that the Mennonites don't want their stories told (even if they are not in the stories themselves) because they want to seem perfect. Do you also think that Janzen had the right to tell her story? Even if it might have made some Mennonites angry?
ReplyDeleteJamie, yes I think Rhoda had a right to tell her story. The problem lies in how we read it. If there's only room in our culture for "one" story about Mennonites, then we will fight about which story gets told. If there's room for variety, then we can appreciate every story for what it is--one person's perspective.
ReplyDeleteBecause Mennonites have been a minority for so long, there is definitely anxiety about misrepresentation, or yes, even presenting the self as less than perfect, to outsiders. However, the secret to humor is embracing our flaws. Undeniably, Rhoda's book is very funny in parts, and I think that her humor can be redemptive, even as it challenges readers--especially Mennonite readers--to take their pretensions to perfection a little less seriously.